Chapter 34

When Joshua came to the Hunter family's house again, it was already the morning of April 17th.

"Happy birthday, John!"

As soon as he entered the door, he walked quickly to John with a beaming face, presenting a gift that was clearly wrapped with great care, and laughed loudly, "But I must point out one thing, if you hadn't written to remind me, I would have forgotten that you're only twelve years old."

"Can I take that as a compliment?"

John also took the gift with a happy face and smiled, asking in return.

"Of course! You can definitely interpret it that way!"

Joshua patted John's shoulder and burst into laughter. His mood was obviously very good today. While laughing, he winked at John, as if there was still something he wanted to say, but couldn't quite finish.

"Hmm?"

John's heart stirred, and he immediately guessed something, his expression turning to one of pleasant surprise.

However, this wasn't the time for the two to discuss serious matters. The person standing behind Joshua was already somewhat dissatisfied, pouting and scolding, "Have you two finished talking? John, do you want my gift?"

"Yes, of course I do!"

John, in a great mood, laughed and reached out to take Emma's gift box, nodding and saying, "Thank you, Emma, thank you for your gift, and for coming all the way to celebrate with me!"

"Hehe."

Hearing John's words, Emma finally became happy, nodding vigorously and saying, "Open it, open it, see if you like it."

John didn't hesitate and opened Emma's gift box right in front of them. Inside was a meticulously crafted fountain pen, which looked quite small and light. John's face immediately showed a look of pleasant surprise, and he nodded repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, I love it!"

After Emma was satisfied, John opened Joshua's gift box and took out a brand new pocket watch.

This time, John was genuinely surprised.

He was very interested in pocket watches, thinking that pulling one out of his pocket looked very cool. However, he also felt that using a pocket watch at his age seemed a bit odd, so he never thought about buying one. Today, Joshua's gift hit the mark perfectly.

"Thank you, I really like it!"

John said sincerely.

After carefully placing the gifts aside, the three of them sat down in the living room. Joshua glanced at the time and asked with a smile, "John, are Frank and Jack coming today?"

John shook his head and laughed, "No, they don't have time today. One went to Brooklyn, and the other has to attend a ball with his father... But they've already sent me gifts."

The two who could hang out with Joshua were not just simple rich second-generation kids. They had good character and strong personal abilities, and had started participating in the management and operation of their family businesses early on. In comparison, because Joshua had an older brother, he didn't have many thoughts in this area.

After chatting for a while, John found a reason to have the maid Lina stay to take care of Emma, and he took Joshua to the study upstairs.

"Bang!"

After forcefully closing the door, Joshua's face finally showed an excited expression, and he whispered impatiently, "John, Edison agreed!"

"Really? Haha, he finally came to his senses?"

John had already guessed this result, but his heart still skipped a beat when he heard it from Joshua, and he became very excited.

Compared to him, Joshua seemed even more excited. He clenched his fist and chuckled, "Of course it wasn't that easy, but what other choice did he have? And this time, I seized on the unreasonable conditions Edison proposed, refusing to budge an inch, which is why it took so long. Otherwise, he would have agreed much earlier!"

"Ah? You mean..."

Thinking of a possibility, John's eyes widened instantly.

"Four thousand dollars!"

Joshua proudly held up four fingers and said in a higher tone, "Edison has agreed to buy all your patents related to the electric light for four thousand dollars, and he will also provide a written guarantee that he will not claim the invention as his own! He agreed to all your conditions!"

"Great!"

When Joshua said this, John's emotions were already stirred, and after hearing it, he clapped his hands and exclaimed excitedly!

Four thousand dollars, that's enough!

Seeing John's pleased face, Joshua laughed and extended his right hand, "John, congratulations! Four thousand dollars is a big number, you're now one of the rich people in New York City!"

"Thank you, Joshua."

Tightly gripping his friend's right hand, John first squeezed it hard, then smiled and said, "But you made a mistake. I didn't get four thousand dollars, remember I have to pay you eight hundred dollars as a fee!"

Hearing this, Joshua's smile grew even wider.

As a lawyer, Joshua had no intention of being polite with his friend. He saw this as his due reward, and it was also one of the motivations for his persistence in negotiating with Edison. If the deal was for two thousand dollars, he would only get ten percent, but for the amount over two thousand dollars, he would get thirty percent!

Eight hundred dollars...

Thinking of the large sum of money he was about to receive, Joshua felt elated. Although he came from a wealthy family, he never thought he could earn so much in one go. It would take him many years to earn eight hundred dollars just by being a lawyer!

"John, have you thought about what we discussed last time?"

The prospect of earning eight hundred dollars made Joshua's restless heart suddenly become agitated.

Joshua's father, Mr. Stone, had once promised to provide him with ten thousand dollars if he had a good idea, but after that, he couldn't touch the family fortune anymore, as it was all reserved for his older brother. With the addition of the eight hundred dollars, the total would be nearly twenty thousand, enough for a big project.

Not to mention, there was still John's thirty-two thousand dollars!

Although he studied law, Joshua never intended to spend his whole life doing a job that, while not poorly paid, was certainly not lucrative. His youthful pride and competitiveness naturally led him to bring up the matter so eagerly.

"I've thought about it!"

John wasn't surprised and quickly nodded with a smile, "And I've already decided what product we should produce!"

"What?!"

Hearing this, Joshua was greatly surprised!

After discussing with John, he had done a lot of work, conducting research, consulting, and thinking, and finally decided to try in the textile industry. After all, this was the hottest industry in New York City, and it wouldn't decline for at least the next twenty years. But he didn't expect that John had also made a plan?

"Does this kid understand the market?"

After a brief moment of surprise, Joshua's brows furrowed.

He truly valued John and treated him as an equal, but when it came to such a significant decision, Joshua instinctively trusted himself. Therefore, when he heard that John also had an idea, he couldn't help but worry.

Like his grandfather, this kid is very stubborn, what if...

"Joshua, come and take a look."

Noticing Joshua's concern, John chuckled and led him to his desk, then used a key to open the bottom drawer.

"What is this?"

Watching John carefully take out a stack of white paper, Joshua blinked and asked curiously.

John smiled mysteriously and didn't explain, instead placing the first sheet in front of Joshua and said with a chuckle, "You just returned from studying in Britain, right? You should have seen something like this... or something similar?"

"A bicycle?"

At the first glance at the picture, Joshua blurted out a word!

But soon, he shook his head and said with great confusion, "No, it doesn't seem right! The bicycles I've seen aren't like this!"

"Of course not."

John lightly tapped the drawing on the table and smiled, "When I was in the East, I saw the bicycles designed by the British, which were too heavy and unstable, and had no practical value. So I thought about improving it, and this is the result... As you know, I learned some physics from two missionaries and saw some machinery, which led to this idea."

"Uh..."

Looking at John, who seemed to take it for granted, Joshua was speechless.

He knew John was smart, but seeing the drawing in front of him refreshed his understanding of him. Although the structure diagram was a bit rough and Joshua didn't understand the principles, for some reason, he felt very comfortable looking at it, much more so than the actual bicycles he had seen in Britain!

"I made three major improvements."

As if guessing Joshua's thoughts, John pointed to the drawing and smiled, "One is the use of a diamond-shaped frame, which is more stable. Another is making the front and rear wheels the same size to maintain balance. The third is using rubber tires with inner tubes to improve speed and comfort. After these three changes, I'm confident it can become a practical means of transportation."

"Hmm... I don't understand, but it sounds reasonable."

Joshua pondered for a moment, looked at the other detailed drawings, and then asked, "John, have you made a prototype and tested it?"

"No!"

Spreading his hands, John smiled frankly.

"No?"

Joshua's expression hardened, and his gaze toward John became somewhat unfriendly.

"But we can find someone to make it first!"

Seeing Joshua's expression, John quickly waved his hands and smiled, "Make a few samples, then register the patent. After that, you can judge its market value by looking at the actual product, right?"