LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 23: Chapter 23: I Want to Buy All His Businesses
Chapter 23: I Want to Buy All His Businesses
After signing the contract, the check was written. Charles looked at the number on it and asked hesitantly, "Mr. Francis, would this amount be enough to buy your tractor factory?"
Francis chuckled. "No, Charles! You'd need at least ten of these checks to cover that!"
He was exaggerating; in reality, five checks would suffice, but some of that was a business secret.
After a pause, Francis added, "But you could buy the motorcycle factory for 600,000 francs. That should be manageable for you!"
"Oh," Charles replied, sounding disappointed.
Grevi and Armand exchanged confused glances. They didn't understand why this family seemed to be negotiating over the sale of their own assets, but as it was none of their business, they didn't ask questions.
...
On the walk back home, Derek noticed that Charles seemed a bit downcast and approached to offer comfort.
"I know how much the tractor factory means to you, Charles," he said. "But we can take things slowly. We've already made a huge profit, and eventually, we'll be able to buy the tractor factory. Don't you agree?"
Charles continued to look down, but his tone held no trace of sadness. "Can you still see the villa?"
"What?" Derek looked puzzled, then realized that Charles had been putting on an act. But why?
Looking back over his shoulder, he replied, "Almost out of sight—only a small part of it is visible now."
Suddenly, the wilted look vanished, and Charles returned to his usual self. He let out a relieved breath, seeming tired of acting.
"I didn't actually plan to buy the tractor factory, Father," Charles confessed.
"Not planning to buy it?" Derek was confused. "Then why did you…"
But he trailed off, starting to understand. "You actually want the motorcycle factory, don't you?"
Charles nodded.
Business negotiations work best when you appear disinterested in the things you truly want and intrigued by those you don't. This way, you can make the final purchase seem unavoidable and get the lowest price.
Derek smiled at himself. "You fooled me, Charles!"
"I can't be sure it'll work on Francis," Charles admitted, a bit worried. "He's not easily outmaneuvered."
Derek had to agree, but he returned to the core question: "But why?"
"What I mean is, the tractor can be turned into a tank, and the tank is your invention. Yet you're not interested in it. The motorcycle's sales have been dropping, but you want to buy that instead."
Like tractors, the motorcycle faced challenges. Wealthier people preferred cars, and the typical motorcycle buyers—working-class people—were either enlisting in the military or struggling to afford such purchases. The market was stagnating.
"Tractors are outdated, Father!" Charles replied. "I've heard that Britain's Holt 75 model has been in mass production since last year, and it's faster and can carry more than Francis's Holt 60."
Charles turned to Derek, continuing, "On the battlefield, soldiers will prefer tanks with greater load capacity and speed, rather than driving slow-moving, thinly-armored tractors like snails."
The Holt 60's top speed was just 15 kilometers per hour, hardly faster than a snail.
Derek was shocked. "But…you just sold the tank patent!"
That sale should mean they were done with tanks—right?
"Father," Charles said calmly, "I'm going to develop a new tank based on the Holt 75's chassis, something entirely different from the last model, which means no patent issues."
Derek was so stunned he stopped in his tracks. A new tank? One that bypasses the original patent? He could barely believe it—was his son truly an inventor?
After a moment, he hurried to catch up, his skepticism still evident. "So, you plan to sell the tank patent, then develop a new tank that surpasses it, is that it?"
"Something like that," Charles said expressionlessly.
"But," Derek said, his eyes widening, "that could drive Francis to bankruptcy! The tanks he's painstakingly producing would hardly sell, and his tractors would struggle against the Holt 75's competition."
"And what's wrong with that?" Charles replied.
Derek fell silent. Business often had no room for family loyalty, and Francis had once been ruthless in trying to take everything from Charles.
If Francis hadn't cared about family ties, why should Charles?
Continuing down this path, everything Charles created would belong to the Bernard family—and to Francis, not himself.
So…
"There's nothing wrong with it," Derek said, clenching his teeth. "Let's go for it. I'm with you all the way."
The day Derek saw Francis try to strip Charles of everything, he'd given up on the family name.
After a brief silence, Derek asked, "Why are we interested in the motorcycle factory?"
"It's not just the motorcycle factory," Charles replied. "I want to buy every business the Bernard family owns."
He said it casually, as if mentioning it on a whim. But this made Derek feel even more shaken. "Buying all of the Bernard family's businesses isn't going to be easy. He might not even want to sell the motorcycle factory…"
"He'll sell it," Charles explained. "Right now, he needs cash more than ever. He drained his liquid assets during the recent operation."
Derek recalled Francis's desperate purchase of food before the Davaz battle.
"And more importantly," Charles continued, "producing tanks will require startup funds, and what he earned from our commission might only keep production going for a few days."
Derek nodded. The tractor factory was large, with over 2,000 employees, and merely paying monthly wages required 60,000 or 70,000 francs, not to mention electricity, rent, and loan interest.
"One more point," Charles added, "Francis bought the motorcycle factory initially to access the machine gun plant. He never saw the motorcycle's potential and planned to cash it out from the start. And we, right now, have the funds to buy it."
"The motorcycle's potential?" Derek asked, puzzled.
Where's the value in it? Isn't it on the path to being replaced by cars?
"You'll find out soon, Father," Charles assured him. "Its value might not be any less than the tractor's."
Derek nodded, feeling that "precocious" was no longer enough to describe Charles. Nor could he just say Charles was "as shrewd as Francis"—Charles was beyond that. He could practically play Francis like a puppet!
It was hard to believe. In the Bernard family, Francis had always been seen as a business genius, his accomplishments undeniable. But compared to Charles, he suddenly seemed almost small.
Before they knew it, they'd arrived home. From a distance, they saw Camille sitting outside, knitting in the soft glow of the sunset, which gave her an almost ethereal warmth.
When she saw them, Camille quickly set aside her knitting, stood, and waved.
"How did it go?" Camille asked as she came over, her eyes filled with hope. "Was everything successful?"
What she most wanted to know was whether Charles's family standing had been recognized.
"It went well," Derek replied with a nod. "We don't need anyone's recognition. We are who we are."
Camille seemed to understand. She nodded softly, turned to Charles with a warm smile, patted his head, and then pulled him into a hug.
It must have been exhausting, she thought, dealing with so many faces and negotiations out there in the world.
(End of Chapter)
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