Chapter 260: Played!

"Yeah, face! Who doesn't care about it? The thing I regret most now is that I cared about that face back then. I lied about the profits process to you. After finally catching a big fish, if I had told you the truth at the time, I could have made $20 million, but I turned it into just $1 million."

As Julian shrugged, he spread his hands:

"I think any investor would be furious, right?! Getting scolded a couple of times is nothing, but what if—"

Is there really a "what if" here?!

Carter smiled abruptly, just as Julian had said. Money is the ultimate test of human nature, and human nature often can't withstand the test.

Putting himself in the situation at that time, if Julian had said to him, "Hey, buddy! Look, we could have made $20 million, but then I only let you earn $1 million to avoid you losing money!" No, to be precise, it was just over a million.

Considering their relationship at the time, Carter wasn't sure he could remain indifferent. A 20-fold difference in returns, not just a small difference like one dollar versus twenty. He'd probably have been jumping up and down, too!

"Forget it, what's done is done. Let me ask you a question, Julian: Can I still trust you?"

"You definitely—"

Just as Julian's lips were parting, Carter suddenly saw movement outside the window and hastily pointed with a finger:

"Shh! Wait, there seems to be something going on over there!"

The office building not far ahead is the location of the American branch of Sanri Society. Along with Carter, there are also negotiation representatives sent by the Abigail City government to New York, led personally by Speaker McCallan to show their importance.

Today's original schedule was for Speaker McCallan's group to go to Sanri Society in the morning for direct talks. Carter was supposed to visit Soros, and after that visit was done, rush to Sanri Society.

By leaving enough private space for both parties to talk and ensuring that they could handle the situation in case things didn't go well, they could ensure things went smoothly. Yet at this moment, before noon, Carter saw McCallan's group coming out of the building looking dejected.

Ending the meeting so early, and with such downcast expressions, something definitely went wrong!

"Mr. McCallan! What's the problem here?"

Hurriedly getting out of the car, Carter ran to the Abigail delegation, asking with some concern. Until now, all Carter had been thinking about was which part of the negotiation had gone wrong.

Thinking left and right, Carter couldn't imagine McCallan's group suddenly adding conditions at this time. And given the terms he had negotiated previously, wasn't Sanri Society very interested?!

"Mr. Carter. Oh."

Seeing Carter arrive, McCallan sighed, looking somewhat annoyed, but also seemed to be considering something and didn't continue. But if he didn't say it, someone else would.

"What's the problem? There's been a problem from the start! These Japanese guys never intended to set up a factory in Georgia! We were told from the beginning, and after all this time of cajoling, there's been no progress at all!"

"No intention? That can't be right! His brother clearly—Hey, wait, you guys wait for me, I'll go in and ask."

Feeling a jolt in his heart, after leaving a word behind, Carter turned and walked into the office building. About ten minutes later, when Carter came out again, his expression seemed even darker than McCallan's group.

"Carter?"

Seeing Carter looking different, Julian quickly approached.

"It's nothing. Mr. McCallan, this is my fault. Please give me some time, you can go back to the hotel to rest, or if you're in a hurry, you can go back to Georgia first."

"Aren't you playing us?! Mr. Blake!"

"Shut up, Hills! Mr. Blake isn't obliged to help us, you should show gratitude!"

After reprimanding a staff member, McCallan nodded, comforted Carter a few times, said some understanding words, and soon led the team away.

It wasn't until there was only Carter left on the street that Julian spoke up:

"What happened?"

"We've been played by these little Japanese! Sanri Society, when we were negotiating, although they didn't directly agree, they also never gave me a definite no. Then, combining with the performance of that so-called 'wolf' at the beginning, and the fact that they haven't responded for so long, I thought their chances of success were high. So, I called McCallan and them to come, hoping to push them to make a decision."

"Is there really no hope of salvaging it?"

"No, I just went in, I couldn't even get past the reception. That Sanri guy won't even see me! If you can't see the person, how can you negotiate?!"

Rubbing his hair, Carter appeared somewhat frustrated.

To be shut out like this, and at this critical moment, on this issue. The highway plan was already underway, and the loan application had been submitted. At this point, it was like a drawn bowstring—there was no turning back.

"This is what you call a 'pure' person? Heh, forget it, it's my fault, too impulsive! Things haven't been confirmed yet, and I've made assumptions on my own. I've had it too easy, a little setback might be good!"

Thinking of the conversation with Julian just now, and the experience now, Carter's eyes flickered for a moment before he said directly:

"Let's go, to McKinsey. Let's entrust the talent recruitment to them first. Then let's think about how to re-attract investment!"

"Where do you plan to start again?"

Starting the car, Julian asked as he drove.

"I don't know, maybe go back to Hawaii and try our luck there. American businessmen don't seem reliable right now, and the only ones who seem to be doing well are those Japanese."

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"Mr. Toyota, are you sure this is the impoverished town you mentioned, so destitute that it needs free land?"

Accompanied by Carter's footsteps entering the gates of McKinsey & Company, Akio Toyota also set foot on Douglas' soil.

"Haha, no, this isn't it! Mr. Matsumoto, this is the city where that miraculous high school student you mentioned resides. Before heading to Agar, I thought we should be adequately prepared, and that high schooler is crucial in this matter!"

"Well, let's just take a look then."

Watching the almost overflowing curiosity in Akio Toyota's eyes, Matsuno Takaki wisely chose to remain silent. When the young master speaks, why ask so much? If he wants to travel, as a poor working man, he has to accompany him.

But as he continued observing, Matsuno Takaki also gradually became serious. There's no need to say much about the construction site at the city entrance; it had already finished laying the foundation and was in the stage of erecting buildings, which is the most visually striking phase of construction!

Apart from the construction site, during the workdays, the few people walking on the streets rarely saw unemployed or homeless people lounging around. These groups, which could be seen everywhere in all the cities along the way, seemed to evaporate from Douglas, disappearing without a trace.

Restaurant staff were busy cleaning ingredients, supermarket employees were restocking shelves, and people in banks were busy tapping away at keyboards on a few computers. The entire city gave Matsuno Takaki the feeling that it was not at all like a modern American city but rather resembled his hometown: Japan!