Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 76 Surprise (3k chapters, please vote!)

Larry actually found a few items he liked among the pile of old furniture and secondhand goods. In addition, he repeatedly selected horses from the collection of Mr. Duncan Jr.

Larry wants to buy his father a riding horse.

The butler merely watched Larry select furniture with a detached eye, but before Larry reached the horses, a sly smile spread across his face as he strode over to him.

"Young sir, I see you again. What do you want to get from my master this time?"

Larry turned around and saw the butler. He nodded slightly and replied, "During the New Year, my parents and I went to church, and the pastor read us a passage from the Bible: 'You have rejected it as dust, but it becomes grain in my granary; you regard it as worn-out shoes, but I have strung them together with gold to make a crown.' I thought it made a lot of sense, so I wrote it down."

The butler raised an eyebrow, noticing that the young man before him, whose face still looked quite immature, was much more confident and sharp than when he had last seen him. After a two-second pause, he nodded.
"Then I hope you can carry on the pioneering work that came from Duncan's ancestors. That would be a great comfort to me."

As he spoke, the butler's gaze unconsciously swept over the old Duncan family furniture that almost covered the small square, and he shook his head slightly.

Larry followed the old butler's gaze, smiled, and said, "Are you also leaving Holliston to live in England?"

The butler pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, “I will stay here. Mr. Duncan believes that the past should be discarded. I used my life savings to buy the first piece of land developed by the Duncan family... Don’t misunderstand, I have always been free in the Duncan family, but having lived here for generations, I can’t just abandon the old things as easily as a young person.”

Larry, seeing that the butler wasn't in a good mood, smiled and changed the subject, "Oh, by the way, sir. I don't know much about horses, but I'd like to buy a riding horse for my father. Could you recommend one?"

The butler turned around, a smile on his face. He reached out and patted a dark chestnut horse with white spots on its forehead in front of Larry. “This one is very good. It’s a Dutch Warmblood gelding, seven years old. I watched it being born. I named it Thor. Look at the angle of its shoulder blades. When it runs, it’s like a stone sliding across ice.”

Larry glanced at it as well. The horse's neck was taut like a bowstring, and its mane was trimmed into a neat stubble. The horse was 17 hands tall at the shoulder, about 160 to 170 centimeters. Its dark black coat was shiny, with only its four hooves and above being white. Americans call this kind of horse a "white-socked horse."

The butler even pried open the horse's lips to show Thor's teeth, "All of them are permanent teeth!"

Larry asked, "Why was this horse castrated?"

The butler curled his lip and pointed at "Thor," saying, "When it was two years old, it tried to jump over a four-wheeled carriage; it wasn't destined to be a stallion. But now its temperament is as steady as a church bell."

Larry nodded and asked, "How much is this horse?"

The butler smiled slyly again, then turned to the male servant beside him and asked, "Hey, what's the price for Thor?"

“$100, sir!” the man answered loudly.

The butler shrugged at Larry.

Larry smiled at the butler. He knew that a warmblood horse in its prime would cost at least $150, and Duncan Jr. was having a clearance sale to get rid of the horse as soon as possible.

Larry took out a cigar and handed it to the butler. "Besides my father, I might need to ride a horse when I return. Could you recommend another one?"

The butler then patted a white horse on the next stable, "This is a purebred American Warmblood, only 4 years old, a mare, with a gentle temperament, just entering her prime. If you want them, $130 for both of them!"

The butler then took the cigar Larry offered him.
.
At noon, Larry returned to his father’s farm in Oak Valley in a rented cargo wagon, with two warmblood horses following far behind.

The father was standing on a ladder reinforcing the barn with long iron nails when he saw a horse-drawn carriage and two horses slowly approaching on the country road. As the carriage got closer, he immediately saw Larry sitting next to the coachman, his face beaming with barely suppressed joy.

“Mary, come out quickly! Look who’s here!” The father said, leaning down into the house, holding the ladder with his good hand.

The mother came out of the house carrying a wooden basin. She first looked at her husband on the ladder, puzzled. Then, following the direction her husband pointed, she dropped the basin on the ground with a trembling hand. Her face immediately lit up with a look of surprise and delight.

Larry waved his hat at them, laughing and shouting, "Dad, Mom, I've come to see you!"

When a family reunites, there is a mix of joy and sorrow.

However, the father and mother were immediately struck by the cargo on the carriage, which was packed full of furniture and goods. What was even more surprising was that there were two horses at the back of the carriage, with matching saddles, bridles and other riding equipment on their backs.

The mother covered her mouth with both hands, afraid that she would cry out.

Larry jumped off the carriage and explained to his parents with a smile, "The rich man in town is having a clearance sale, and I thought these pieces of furniture were pretty good, so I bought some."

The father stood with his hands on his hips, maintaining his calm and composed silence. He glanced at the various pieces of furniture on the truck before focusing his attention on the two horses.

After a long silence, the father said helplessly, "Don't tell me... Mr. Potter gave you another raise."

Larry laughed and told his parents to bring the furniture inside first, otherwise the coachman would charge more if they took too long.

The father and mother then stopped hesitating and hurriedly told the coachman to start unloading the furniture. It was 45 minutes later when the four of them had placed all the furniture in the appropriate place in the farmhouse.

After moving the furniture, the mother insisted that the coachman have a cup of broken leaf tea, and Larry gave the coachman $2 for the fare before the coachman left with a smile.

After seeing the coachman off, Larry turned to look at his parents and said with a smile, "Let's eat first, I'm starving! We can talk about it at the dinner table."

Larry's parents had no idea he would come back, and they hurriedly prepared lunch.

Fifteen minutes later, lunch was served. It was a simple American lunch, consisting of gluten-based black bread, chickpeas, and pickles, with two pieces of cured meat as the main dish.

Larry, however, ate with a big smile, after all, he was eating with his parents.

Father and Mother smiled as they watched Larry finish his meal. Mother said, "For dinner tonight, I'll buy some pork chops from Mrs. Raz next door and fry them. My Larry loves fried meat the most."

The father, with a calm expression, watched Larry finish eating and slowly said, "Now you can tell me..."

Larry put down his coffee cup, smiled, and said, "Mom and Dad, I want to give you a surprise..."

The mother turned to look at the newly added leather high-back club chair, oak sideboard, Rococo-style walnut desk, jade three-post lamp, and a pile of enamel tableware of various sizes... She nodded and casually remarked, "Hmm, quite a surprise..."

“Not this one…” Larry continued to laugh.

“Oh, I see! They’re two fine horses! I think the white-socked horse is in its prime, and the other mare will be ready to be ridden after just one year of training!” Father said, nodding as he spoke.

“Not entirely…” Larry grinned, revealing eight teeth.

The mother frowned slightly. "Larry, tell me first how much these things cost?"

Larry hurriedly said solemnly, "I swear to God, it's only $225! The Duncan family is having a big sale, the furniture and horses are incredibly cheap..."

The father and mother exchanged a glance, and the father muttered, "$225... My God! Did you rob a bank?"

Larry finally got his chance, so he painstakingly explained to his parents his stock trading activities. Of course, he deliberately omitted some details, such as the fact that he was actually trading with a gambling house. In addition, Larry unintentionally added some details, saying that he was actually taught by Mr. Porter, which enabled him to make money in trading.

Larry had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time; he would tell his parents sooner or later about his stock trading business.

I might as well take advantage of the time after the New Year when my parents are not around to reveal my true colors.

The parents were confused, but they finally understood that Larry wasn't gambling, but rather earning money through calculation and reasoning.

The two didn't ask Larry how much money he had made, but judging from his lavish spending, it must have been at least a huge sum of over $1000.

Larry's mother looked very upset. She told Larry to deposit the money in the bank and not keep it with him, lest he be tempted to go astray.

The father also emphasized with a serious expression that he had never heard of a child who started from scratch and had so much money before the age of 15.

He couldn't believe the money was real.

But faced with the facts, after an hour of explanation, the parents looked back at the horse and furniture Larry had bought, and finally sighed, reluctantly acknowledging the truth.

“Okay, Larry, I admit this surprise is really quite shocking,” the father said, rubbing his temples and shaking his head.

The mother looked at Larry with the same loving yet uneasy gaze.

Larry maintained his obedient smile, and only after seeing that the two had finally accepted the truth did he take the land deed for the 83 acres of wasteland from his pocket.
"Dad, Mom, the surprise I'm talking about isn't any of those, it's this..."

The parents exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with confusion. But when they unfolded the land deed together, their expressions instantly froze...

The father abruptly stood up and grabbed Larry's arm. "Let's go now! The captain I used to be a sailor for is still on the ship. I'll ask a kind captain to save you a seat. Once you get to Europe, hide your identity and keep your whereabouts secret. If England doesn't work, go to Australia..."

Larry was bewildered. "Why would I go to Australia?"

The mother covered her eyes and cried, sobbing, "Larry, you really did rob a bank... Waaah..."

(End of this chapter)