North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 14 Things That Went Wrong
The samples were loaded onto a horse-drawn carriage and driven straight to the nearby municipal building.

The small municipal square has the municipal building at one end and the oldest church in the entire bay area, Mission Dolores, directly opposite.

It took a whole morning for the few of them to finally complete the company registration and the patent registration for jeans, mobile houses and foot-operated sewing machines.

The whole process went smoothly as long as Jason gave him a little money.

However, when registering shareholders, the white official opposite found that the largest shareholder was "Zunian Lee". He frowned and looked up at Li Zunian in front of him.

"Chinese...major shareholder?"

"Why, old man Harrison, are you all right?"

Jason smiled and patted the back of the white official's hand, and tacitly stuffed another five dollars into his palm.

"No problem!" said the white official named Harrison with a serious face, "There is no law that prohibits Chinese people from becoming major shareholders!"

"Dah!"

Harrison picked up the bronze seal and heavily stamped the business license of "Huamei Company" with a blue seal.
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When they came out of the city hall building shoulder to shoulder, Vivian looked up and saw the Dolores Church across from the square. She frowned uncomfortably and her pace slowed down slightly.

"Vivian, what's wrong?"

A Zu keenly noticed her hesitation and asked.

Vivian stopped and said hesitantly, "I told you before that I have an uncle."

A Zu thought about it and remembered: "The uncle who is a priest?"

Vivian nodded. "Yes! If the letter my uncle wrote to us is correct, and if he hasn't been transferred in the past few months, Uncle Evan should be in the church across the street."

"That's good!" A-Zu was happy for her: "Then why don't you go find Uncle Evan and tell him you're safe?"

Vivian hesitated again: "But, I...I don't know Uncle Evan!"

"Ah? You don't even recognize your own uncle?"

"I followed my father to the Far East when I was just over a year old. How could I possibly know Uncle Evan?"

"That's right! So, Uncle Evan doesn't know you either?"

Vivian nodded again and continued, "My father and mother allowed me to return to America to attend college through Uncle Evan's arrangement."

"Originally, Uncle Evan arranged for me to study at a Presbyterian church school for a year or two before sending me to a girls' college in the East next year or the year after."

Although she was personally taught by her father, who holds a doctorate, Vivian had not received any systematic education in primary and secondary schools. It would be reasonable for her to study preparatory courses for one or two years before going to university.

A-Zu thought for a moment and said, "Even though we haven't met, I think you should go see your uncle first. The news of the Barbara's sinking has spread a long time ago. Uncle Evan probably thinks you and your mother have perished at sea. I wonder how sad he must be. You should go and tell him you're safe as soon as possible!"

"Let's do it another day. The company has just been established and there are so many things to do..."

"No matter how busy you are, there's still time for you to go see your uncle. Go ahead! We'll go back to Mr. Vick's house and wait for you to come back."

"Um... okay! Then I'll go see my uncle and be right back."

After watching Vivian's back disappear into the depths of the church, A Zu and the others drove away in the carriage. After having lunch at Vic's house and waiting for guests to arrive, they suddenly heard a commotion downstairs.

A-Zu put down his after-dinner drink and went downstairs with Vic, Jason and Harley. He saw a group of people blocking the door of "Barbara's Tailor Shop".

The leader was a short and fat man wearing a Jewish kippah and holding a walking stick. He was wearing a well-ironed suit and had a neatly trimmed mustache.

Seeing this man, Vic's face instantly darkened.

At the same time, Vic was also seen on the other side!
"Oh, my dear Vic, thank God, you are still alive!"

The dwarf greeted Vic with an exaggerated tone and expression.

Vic's face darkened as he replied, "Ross, you're very well-informed. I just got back alive and you showed up!"

Shorty Ross smiled widely, "Mr. Vic, you're really lucky. Even the Pacific Ocean can't drown you."

"This is God's mercy!" Vic glanced at A-Zu, unwilling to drag him into this matter.

"Of course, of course! God is indeed merciful enough to you!"

As he spoke, Shorty Ross pulled out an envelope from his pocket and raised it up. "Then Mr. Vick, please have mercy on poor Ross and repay this $40,000 loan immediately!"

When Vic heard this, he was furious. He took a few steps forward and shouted, "My loan is $26,000, payable over four years, $10,000 a year. I still have a month and a half until the first payment!"

"No, no, no!" Ross said slowly, "That loan agreement was reached on the premise that the lovely Barbara could sail normally and earn a lot of dollars."

Shorty Ross lamented pretentiously, "But unfortunately, the Barbara sank to the bottom of the cold and merciless Pacific Ocean! So, Mr. Vic, you must fulfill all the terms of the agreement in advance and repay the entire $40,000 loan immediately!"

"You, you damn Jewish villain! You are blackmailing me!" Vic's face turned red with anger and he waved his fists angrily.

Shorty Ross was forced back a step by the fist in front of him, but the group of men in black behind him gave him confidence: "Mr. Vic, please control your emotions! The right to interpret the loan agreement belongs to my Bay Area Bank. Therefore, I have every right to demand that you fulfill all the terms of the loan agreement in advance."

"This is blatant blackmail! Ross, you villain...!"

It was obvious that Vic was not good at dealing with a shameless vampire like Shorty Ross, and he could only curse helplessly over and over again.

Ross's expression gradually turned cold. "Mr. Vic, I've explained everything to you clearly. But your attitude is so bad and you refuse to cooperate. I have no choice but to use legal means to confiscate all your assets, including your Barbara Tailor Shop and shipping company!"

"But it's obvious that this tiny bit of assets is not enough to repay the huge loan of forty thousand dollars! So, from today on, your whole family will work for me for free until the debt is paid off!"

A debt of forty thousand dollars, even if the Vick family did not eat or drink, in this era when the monthly salary was only a few dozen dollars, it would be impossible to pay it off in the rest of their lives.

What's more, with the Jews' blood-sucking methods, the interest will be compounded, and forty thousand dollars will soon become one hundred thousand, one million...!
"No, Ross, you can't do this!"

Vic had anticipated this scene, so he was determined to die in the small wooden boat.

Ross, with an expressionless face, waved his short hands, and a group of men in black behind him immediately swarmed up, ready to take away Vic's family and seize the last bit of their assets.

At this time, it was finally A-Zu's turn to appear.

"Wait! Mr. Ross, I think you made a mistake!"

(End of this chapter)