Chapter 89

On Sunday morning at ten o'clock, in John's study.

In mid-October in Berlin, the temperature had dropped significantly, but when the sun was out, it was still quite warm, enough to make people drowsy by ten o'clock. However, sitting at his desk, basking in the warm sunlight on his face and body, John felt no trace of sleepiness.

"Damn it, this is the consequence of speaking without thinking!"

John looked at the report he had just written, which spanned several pages, and then at the stack of blank paper beside it. He couldn't help but run his hands through his hair in frustration, lamenting loudly in his heart.

On Tuesday, while chatting with Bergmann, John had let his guard down and blurted out that he had conducted many related experiments and could整理一下给对方看看. Professor Bergmann, of course, happily agreed. But when John came to his senses, he immediately wished he could slap himself!

What experiment records? Where was he supposed to find them?!

He could have just taken some of the textbook knowledge in his head, organized it, and handed it over to Bergmann, letting him verify the experiments himself. Why did he have to say that?

"This is what you get for bringing it upon yourself!"

Staring speechlessly at the stack of blank paper on the desk, John was troubled for a while before he had to rack his brains to figure out how to write these experiments and experimental data. The truly valuable part of the report was the disinfection methods and some practical suggestions, which John could easily finish in two days. But these worthless experiments and data were giving him a headache: conducting experiments was time-consuming and labor-intensive, but without doing them, he had no idea how to come up with the data. It was truly a life-threatening task!

"Alright, alright!"

Just as John was considering writing some random data, there was a knock on the door.

"Sir, the carriage you booked has arrived."

Hans, who had been given permission, pushed the door open and said with a smile.

"Carriage?"

John was taken aback, staring blankly for a moment before he suddenly remembered. He had almost forgotten that he had specifically instructed Hans to book a carriage to the Bristow family's house to discuss the cooperation on building a factory. But since he was already feeling a headache from writing, John jumped up to change his clothes without hesitation and quickly left in the carriage.

Arriving at the Bristow estate, John was warmly welcomed by the family. However, after the pleasantries, Mrs. Bristow and Anna went upstairs, much to John's somewhat reluctant gaze. Today, John's main purpose was to discuss the cooperation, so the women naturally left the men enough time and space to talk, and Mrs. Bristow did this quite well.

"Mr. Bristow, how are the discussions going?"

After the two ladies left, John directly asked about the matter they had discussed last time.

"They are settled."

Mr. Bristow said with a smile: "The cooperation on the building blocks is definitely no problem. As Mr. Huntelaar suggested, we will be responsible for building the factory, recruiting workers, and managing and selling the products. You only need to provide the design and a portion of the funds. How about a 50-50 share?"

"No problem!"

John readily agreed.

This was his initial proposal. By contributing around ten thousand dollars, he could enjoy a 50% share, which was a very good deal. Moreover, Steve had also agreed after communication via telegram. The Bristow family was already strong in wood processing, so it would be much easier for them to produce enough Lego blocks to supply the entire European market...

The United States had only a few million people, while the European market was much larger than all of North America!

So, the next important matter was the bicycle factory. John chuckled and asked, "What about the bicycle factory? What are your plans, Mr. Bristow?"

"I will invite a friend to join, Mr. Ludwig von Cole."

Bristow immediately gave the answer, speaking solemnly.

"Von?"

Hearing this middle name, John's heart stirred, and he asked uncertainly, "Is Mr. Cole a German noble?"

After living in Berlin for over a year, although he had not formally interacted with German nobles, John had learned some basic knowledge. In Germany, only nobles added "von" to their names, so he naturally thought of Mr. Cole's noble status upon hearing the name.

"Yes, he is a baron."

Bristow nodded, confirming John's guess: "Baron Cole owns a steel mill and a machine factory. He is a very upright and reliable gentleman with a good reputation in Berlin. I believe he would be the perfect partner for producing bicycles!"

Indeed, bicycle production required steel and machinery, and Baron Cole's industries met these requirements. However, after hearing Bristow's words, John immediately shook his head and said, "Mr. Bristow, I must remind you that we have already designed specialized machinery for bicycle production in New York. If you don't mind, I think it would be better to transport the machinery from the United States!"

"Well... alright, I think that should be fine."

After a brief hesitation, Bristow nodded in agreement. Compared to the huge profits from bicycles, the machinery was a minor issue, and he certainly wouldn't quibble over it.

After a slight pause, Bristow asked eagerly, "Mr. Huntelaar, since everyone is in agreement, would you consider scheduling a meeting with Baron Cole? We can quickly finalize the factory location, investment, and specific details..."

Don't blame Mr. Bristow for being impatient. Bicycles were extremely popular in Europe, especially in Germany, where the lack of sufficient supply made this new and fashionable mode of transportation even more desirable. Many wealthy young people were asking people to buy bicycles in London, and some were even importing them from Britain to sell in Germany. However, due to the high demand in Britain, the number of bicycles available was still very limited.

This was all money!

Bristow naturally hoped the factory could be built as soon as possible so they could start reaping high returns.

However, John was not very interested in his suggestion and shook his head without hesitation, "Mr. Bristow, I actually know nothing about business, so I can only send a telegram to the United States and have a friend handle this... I apologize, but could you please be patient for about two months?"

Initially, the agreement with Joshua was that John would only find a partner, and the specific details would be handled by Joshua.

"Is that so..."

Mr. Bristow was immediately disappointed, but given the transportation conditions of the time, it did take over a month to travel from New York to Berlin, so John's request was not unreasonable.

Seeing Bristow's disappointment, John thought for a moment and continued, "Mr. Bristow, how about this: the equipment for building the factory in Germany should already be prepared in New York. I can send a telegram and have them bring it over directly. As for the investment and the scale of the factory, I think we can communicate via telegram to improve efficiency and get the factory built as soon as possible. What do you think?"

"Good, good, this is a good idea!"

Bristow immediately nodded in agreement upon hearing this suggestion.

In just a few minutes, the two had settled the matter. Bristow finally had a hand in the highly profitable bicycle business, at least partially, and was naturally delighted. John, on the other hand, had completed the task Joshua had given him and could foresee a significant increase in his annual income, which greatly relieved him.

After finishing the main discussion, John couldn't help but think about the beautiful Miss Anna, and Bristow, feeling elated, naturally called his wife and daughter down. It would be quite awkward to keep the guest company alone...

...

The content that follows is a bit difficult to write, and I haven't thought it through yet, so I'll write a couple of chapters as a transition. Ha ha.

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