America: My Time

Chapter 1053 A man is a boy until he dies

Chapter 1043 A Man Is a Boy Until He Dies

John wants to use someone else to do his dirty work? To use the Japanese to deal with those damned enemies? No, this isn't about using someone else to do his dirty work. With the power of those guys in Japan, it's impossible for them to take down the enemy. At least the Americans wouldn't agree to it. No matter how crazy those guys are, the Americans won't just watch them fall. John just wants an excuse to target them.

Soon, John received the evidence from the Japanese government. Without hesitation, John contacted the Middle Eastern tycoon, handed over this valuable 'evidence,' and explained Japan's request. John also had a brief exchange with the Middle Eastern tycoon. After all, the conflict in the Middle East was still ongoing. Since the other side was at fault first, the Americans couldn't intervene, no matter how much the American oil conglomerates wanted to. The Israelis were unwilling to back down, and the Europeans also had some oil capital supporting the other side.

Although things in Japan are important, they are insignificant compared to the plans in China. After all, in John's mind, the development in China is the most important, so he focuses his energy on China. Whether it's the cooperation with Westinghouse Electric, or investments in tourism, electronics, semiconductors, and other sectors, John needs to make proper arrangements.

Of course, there's another issue: the company's profits in China. This also needs to be addressed. Although John has been investing heavily in China, there are also substantial profits in other industries. These profits can't just sit on the books forever, but transferring them out isn't a good option either. Increasing investment is risky, but there's a slight weakness in talent reserves, so John is somewhat troubled.

Money can't just sit in the account forever; that's a waste. It needs a good place to go. As for returning it to the US, John hadn't even considered it. After all, that would involve taxes, and John couldn't afford such a loss. John never intended to bring his overseas funds back to the US, not even if they were in the company's accounts.

Investing in real estate once again crossed John's mind. Although the Mandarin Oriental Group's investments in China were impressive, they were insignificant compared to the future returns. John now had a considerable amount of money at his disposal; his continuous investments in China over the years had naturally amassed a huge sum.

"Grandpa, did Grandma go for a walk?"

"You rascal, you have so much to do, you don't need to come here every few days. We're very comfortable here, much more comfortable than in Bordeaux!"

"Okay, I understand. But I came here today because I have something to do. The 1:1 scale figure from Japan is finished and will be airlifted over today. I had them delivered it here, but I don't know how their design is going. My uncle has another request, and I also promised a Middle Eastern tycoon that I'd like to do something. I can't be careless about this. I'm not at ease leaving it there, especially since you know Martin is here too!"

"A figurine, a Saint Seiya figurine?" Grandpa immediately realized what John was talking about. After all, figurines are very popular in the anime community, and John had paid a considerable price for them, spending real money to create them.

“Yes, the prototypes for the thirteen Saint Cloths. If I confirm there are no problems on my end, they will begin production there. Originally, I planned to make only three sets, but that's impossible now. There's also demand from the Middle East, so we can't just do it for ourselves. We have to at least satisfy the wealthy!" John sighed as he spoke. Making such a one-to-one handcrafted set is no easy task, and it's all done by hand. Who knows when he'll be able to collect the complete set of Saint Cloths? After all, this isn't just about the Gold Cloths, but all the Saint Cloths from the entire Saint Seiya series. It will definitely take a long time.

Just then, the prototype Saint Cloths John was waiting for arrived. The old man and the young man quickly got to work. Thirteen prototypes were produced: one was a Sagittarius Saint Cloth made of pure gold, and twelve were complete sets of gold Saint Cloths made of aerospace-grade aluminum with a gold-plated finish. However, the Sagittarius bow was the real deal, and the arrow was made of titanium alloy!
"Hahaha! Grandpa, those guys in Japan have pretty good craftsmanship. We can let them continue production. It's a pity that this set of gold-plated Saint Cloths is just for decoration; it's too heavy! However, this one made of aerospace-grade aluminum is quite good; it's very lightweight!" John was very satisfied when he saw a prototype of the Sagittarius Saint Cloth and the complete set of twelve gold Saint Cloths. His judgment was indeed correct; the most beautiful one was the Sagittarius gold Saint Cloth!
"John, are you sure this armor can be worn? It doesn't look like it can be worn at all!" When the old man saw the original version, he felt that it was impossible to wear it; it wasn't armor at all.

"Don't worry, there's absolutely no problem. This isn't a humanoid support structure; we can put them on the humanoid support structure first." Soon, John and the old man worked together to disassemble the aerospace-grade aluminum Saint Cloth and then put it on the humanoid support structure. Sure enough, everything was just as John said; it could be worn perfectly, and the weight of the Saint Cloth was within an acceptable range for ordinary people. Everything was perfect!

While John and the old man were having a great time, they were completely unaware that their grandmother had returned, and not alone, but with several other people. Most importantly, it was almost noon, yet the two of them were still engrossed in playing with the entire set of Gold Cloths, completely absorbed, even discussing various aspects of the Cloths! Indeed, men are like boys until they die; even the old man was having so much fun that he had completely forgotten everything else.

"Excellent! We need to get those guys in Japan to finish the whole set quickly. This kind of Saint Cloth will definitely sell well, and the Middle Eastern tycoons will be extremely satisfied. I can see huge orders beckoning. It's a pity that this time those guys only completed the Sagittarius Saint Cloth, which is made of pure gold. That one is just so pleasing to the eye!"

“John, you’re overthinking it. These kinds of Saint Cloths are definitely not something an ordinary person can afford. And are you sure the Middle East will need the whole set? They seem to only like gold, and the cost is also considerable, especially the ones made of real gold. Are you sure there will be a market for them? Even if there is a market, the amount of gold required will be enormous!”

“Grandpa, you underestimate me. I’m a global mining tycoon, a copper and gold mining giant. I can easily produce this much gold. Originally, I only planned to build three sets, but it seems that the gold and silver I prepared beforehand are far from enough. I wonder if those guys in Japan have done a good job. This time, I’m going to make those bastards pay the price, especially those Rothschild bastards. They were the mastermind behind the Asma and Falk incident. I didn’t have any evidence before, so I couldn’t take action. Now I can finally teach them a lesson.”

At this point, John suddenly paused: "Grandpa, do you think I have a chance to get Château Mouton Rothschild from them?"

"Impossible, that's the Rothschilds, how could they possibly sell Château Mouton Rothschild?"

“That’s right. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible, but this time they’ve offended me and given me a solid reason, so they have no choice. Actually, what I really want to acquire is Romanée-Conti, but unfortunately, that family refuses to sell. In comparison, the owners of Château d’Yquem and Château Latour are much more reasonable.”

"Haha, I didn't expect such a thing to happen. How come I've never heard you mention it before? However, you've already acquired quite a few wineries over the years. There's no need to continue acquiring more, otherwise it's easy for problems to arise and affect the quality of the wine!"

“I know, it’s all group-managed now, there won’t be any problems. I’m just saying this to you, and only you can understand me. They don’t understand why I have this hobby. Farms and wineries, whether they make money or not isn’t important, but they can preserve value. At least I can be self-sufficient, and the quality of all agricultural products is guaranteed.” John shook his head as he spoke. Perhaps this was a difference in perspective. Those business elites only thought about spending money to buy, while John wanted to be self-sufficient and have everything under his own control.

In his family's eyes, John could have invested the money elsewhere for better returns, but instead he insisted on investing in wineries and farms. They saw it as a thankless task, given the numerous hotel sales in France in recent years! Similarly, life wasn't easy for American farmers, and John, arguably the largest farmer in the country, hadn't made a profit year after year. They only saw investment, not returns. Hobbies weren't the problem, but John's investments were too vast. He'd become the largest farmer in the US, primarily raising cattle, sheep, fruits, and vegetables; grains were almost negligible. Because John didn't deal much in grains, no one paid attention!

Of course, the most important thing is that John's farm did not make money, which made many people lower their guard. In fact, many people thought that John's farm was just a retail outlet and was completely different from those real grain producers!
Judging from the current situation, John's investment in the farm has indeed not yielded profits. Of course, it wasn't initially solely for profit; it was also a way to preserve asset value. The future situation in the United States is likely to be dire, so investing in real estate is far less important than investing in land. In the future, all the land in the US will be controlled by those grain merchants, and John knows how ruthless those guys are, so he doesn't want to risk a conflict with them prematurely!

(End of this chapter)