America: My Time

Chapter 352 Surprise or not?
Chapter 352 Surprise or Not?

John didn't say anything more about Sophie Marceau's choice. He had said what he needed to say, and now it was time for her to make her own decision. As an outsider, it wasn't appropriate for him to interfere too much; she had to walk her own path. Although he thought highly of Sophie Marceau, that didn't mean he would interfere in her life.

"Uncle, I advise you to take Amaniu to meet my mother. Otherwise, if she finds out later, you'll be in trouble, and I won't be either. I don't want to be implicated by you, and I don't want to take the blame for you. Besides, we'll be leaving for Bordeaux in a few days. Do you think you can get back to Paris in time?"

"Alright, you win, I agree! But are you sure you have time? I heard you're very busy right now. The acquisition of Paramount Pictures has put you in another battle with those guys in Hollywood. Now even Europe knows about Paramount's change of ownership, as well as Columbia Pictures and Fox's change of ownership. Half of Hollywood's giants have changed ownership, which has caused a huge sensation in the film industry."

Justin is also a person in the entertainment industry, especially since his girlfriend is an actress, so he naturally pays attention to Hollywood. The change of ownership of Paramount Pictures had a huge impact on him.

"The battles between Hollywood giants have never stopped, but now those guys insist on being my enemies. I can't just sit idly by and let them do what they want. Whoever can't hold on will be the first to give in. Legendary Entertainment was fine fighting six against one before, let alone two against four, or even three against four now. Columbia Pictures will also be on my side. Do you think I need to care about what those guys think? Uncle, you should think about your own affairs when you have time. How to give Grandpa and Grandma an explanation? If possible, you should meet with them with Amani. It would be even better if you could accompany them back to China."

John paused here, then frowned and said, "Uncle, you're not going to run away ahead of time, are you?"

"How could that be? What kind of person do you take me for? Why would I run away? Am I that despicable?"

“Yes, very likely. To be honest, I don’t trust you at all. If you turn around and go back to Paris, I’ll be in big trouble! You’d better not leave my sight. Let’s go home together. This time, Eva and Allen will go to Bordeaux together to accompany Grandpa and Grandma back to China.”

Justin, feeling uneasy under John's gaze, quickly said, "John, you don't need to be so nervous. I will never run away. Besides, Amani and Sophie are here. How could I possibly run away alone? That's impossible!"

"Hehe, that's not necessarily true. I've been fooled by you many times, and I've learned my lesson the hard way!"

"That happened so long ago, and you still remember it? You're really petty!"

“I’m petty, you fooled me badly back then. But now you can’t run away even if you want to. When you called me, I already told my mother about your trip to San Francisco. How about that? Surprised? Unexpected!” As he spoke, a smile appeared on John’s face. He saw his secretary, Ava, walking quickly toward him with the phone in her hand, and he knew in his heart that it must be his mother’s call.

"John, you're so cunning! How could you do this? I already agreed to everything!"

Just as Justin finished speaking, his secretary Ava rushed in and said, "Boss, your phone is ringing."

John took the phone with a smile. Sure enough, everything was just as he had thought. It was his mother Anna calling, and there were no surprises. She asked him to hand the phone to his uncle Justin.

"Uncle, here's your phone!" John said, handing the phone to his uncle with an excited expression.

"John, you're so wicked! How could you scheme against me like that!"

“No, Uncle, this is called ‘better you than me.’ I don’t want to take the blame for you. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve already booked your return tickets. You can’t fool me. Am I right?” John said with a cold smile. “John, how did you know?” Justin looked surprised. He had indeed booked his return tickets to Paris!

"Heh, how did you know? Don't you know who the owner of Pan Am is? Do you think your little tricks can fool me? I've been waiting for this. Your biggest mistake was taking a Pan Am flight to San Francisco. I had Ava cancel your ticket. Don't think you can escape from me, my little uncle. You'd better come home with me and stay in San Francisco. We'll go back to Bordeaux together!"

"John, you wouldn't happen to be the owner of Pan Am, would you?"

“That’s right, I am the owner of Pan Am Airlines. You shouldn’t have booked your ticket with Pan Am. So you’re trying to fool me again and make me take the blame? That’s impossible. I know everything about your reservation at the InterContinental Hotel in San Francisco. You think you’re being clever, but you’re the real clown! I’m not surprised at all. You should be the one who’s surprised, the one who’s taken aback!” At this moment, John looked at his uncle Justin as if he were a fool.

It turned out that he was the clown all along, which shocked Justin and left him somewhat incredulous.

"You bastard, you're so vicious! You knew my plan all along, and you still played me like this!" At this moment, Justin realized that he had been tricked by John from the very beginning. Perhaps he had been too careless and shouldn't have come to San Francisco. If he had waited a little longer, there wouldn't have been so many 'surprises'!
"No, this is my way of getting back at you. You betrayed me completely first and even tried to make me take the blame for you. How could I not give you a little revenge? Do you know how many times my mother has scolded me for the winery? Now it's time for you to pay the price. I will tell my mother your whole plan. I hope you can think of a countermeasure in advance!"

“John, this was your first provocation. You shouldn’t have suggested I continue with the winery. You know I’m not interested in it at all, and I was only doing it for your own good. What’s so great about the winery that fascinates you so much? I’m just worried that you’ll become like the old man, obsessed with the winery!”

"Hehe, for my own good, yeah, for my own good you betrayed me completely. Well, I'm doing this for your own good too. You can't keep your affair with Amani a secret from your grandparents forever. They've always wanted you to find a girlfriend, and this is killing two birds with one stone. You don't need to thank me, it's what I should do!"

“Alright, you win, I concede. But John, I really don’t want to manage the winery. I have absolutely no interest in it. Since you’re interested, why don’t you accept it? Besides, this time you’re not entirely looking to acquire a top winery. It’s best and most suitable for you to hand over the old man’s winery to him. You share common interests, and I believe you won’t disappoint the old man and will ensure the winery continues to thrive.”

“Uncle, it’s fine if you don’t want to manage the winery, but you can have someone else manage it for you. Besides, the winery is Grandpa’s life’s work, you can’t just give it up like this. I think you should reconsider, or you’ll change your mind after a while. Let’s not talk about this anymore, I have my own goals now.”

“John, I think you should be more careful. Acquiring a winery is easy, but managing it well is not an easy task. The current economic climate is not ideal, and many wineries are looking to sell.”

“I know, but it’s not a big deal. I’m not doing this for short-term gains, but for the long term. I don’t care about temporary losses, and I have a promotional ability that other wineries don’t have! Don’t worry, everything will be fine. When the economy recovers, everything will be better. You’ve seen that my winery has been doing well all along, and this time will be no exception.”

"That's true. With your business acumen, you should be fine. I was overthinking it. But you should also be careful. There are some negative voices in France these days. Some guys are unhappy with your large-scale acquisition of wineries. There might be some trouble."

"What's the big deal? No matter how much those guys jump around, it's useless unless they can persuade the authorities to pass legislation prohibiting foreigners from buying wineries. But do you think that's possible? Besides, I'm not without ways to circumvent their ridiculous arguments. If they can actually do that, do you think I'll be left without any means of retaliation? They can persuade the authorities to intervene, and I have the ability to persuade the White House. In the end, the ones who suffer the losses will be me, not them."

John paid no attention to the actions of the French wine groups and the shady characters behind them. In fact, the more they acted this way, the more foolish John thought they were, and the more he realized he wasn't someone to be trifled with. However, this recent turmoil did give John some food for thought, further solidifying his decision to build his own winery in Napa Valley and export the wines he had acquired in France. Over such a long period, John had accumulated a considerable amount of fine wine from Bordeaux, and preparing early was a wise choice to avoid incurring even greater costs later when he wanted to export them.

Amani and Sophie were somewhat surprised to see the 'battle of wits' between John and Justin, but they were even more surprised by the kinship between the two. Although they did not know the scale of the winery that Justin and John mentioned, there were not many people who could be so unmoved by money, and such kinship surprised them.

(End of this chapter)