"Are you serious?" John was silent for a moment before speaking. Thinking of how many times Colin had emphasized this, he said again, "It would cost a lot of money to get all the materials you mentioned."
"Of course!" Colin's face lit up when he heard John's intention to agree. "My initial budget is $200,000. After buying all the necessary items marked in my booklet, the rest can be purchased in small quantities according to their importance."
Then, he glanced at John's still thoughtful face and added, "I also know that it is not easy to get these things. In order to make up for the time loss you caused me, how about $10,000?"
"Hey! Wait! Wait!"
Seeing that the deal was about to be done, Joseph, who was standing by, spoke out to stop it. After giving John an apologetic look, he dragged Colin to the corner.
"You're crazy, aren't you? Tell me if you're crazy! You're going to spend two hundred thousand dollars on something that's totally useless! Is your brain full of water?"
Joseph pushed Colin against the wall with both hands and growled in a tone of incomprehension.
Colin listened calmly, and after taking away Joseph's hands on his shoulders with greater force, he pointed to his eyes.
"Look in my eyes, is there anything crazy about it?"
"Believe me, Joseph, I have never been so calm in my life, including the previous one, and I have never wanted to accomplish something so strongly as I do now!"
"I know you are confused now, but I can't explain it to you now. However, I promise that within a year at most, you will know why I am doing this now!"
After saying that, he patted the dazed Joseph on the shoulder, strode towards John and said, "What do you think, John? I know this matter is a bit troublesome, but for now, you are the only person I can hire who can handle my request and is trustworthy."
Colin walked over with a look of complete understanding. John closed the booklet in his hand, which he had roughly flipped through, and smiled bitterly.
"Before I came here, I thought I could easily solve your problem and show off in front of you two, but I didn't expect..."
John shook his head bitterly, and Colin looked at him and smiled awkwardly.
"Forget it!" John exhaled, raised his head, and said in a self-deprecating tone: "Although I did lose a little, I can't just run back in disgrace. Otherwise, if word gets out that I can't even help my own friend, I'll be completely embarrassed."
"Also, forget about your $10,000 in lost wages. Just consider it as a gift from me for you to open your store!"
"Don't refuse. Although you want a lot of things, to be honest, it's just a little troublesome for me. It's not worth it to owe others a favor. If it were someone else, I would accept the money, but you are my true friend, this can only be regarded as mutual help between friends!"
As if he could tell that Colin wanted to refute, John interrupted him in advance.
Colin glared, but seeing John's attitude that he would not help unless you paid him, he could only nod helplessly and said, "Well, since you insist on working for me for free, how can I force you to pay? But speaking of it, the three of us haven't been together for a long time. Today is a good opportunity. We must go out and find a place to celebrate."
After saying that, he turned around and pulled Joseph, who was still looking stern, over and said, "Hey, that's enough. I know you're worried that I'll go bankrupt in the future and eat and drink at your house every day, but don't worry, I will never let that happen!"
"Bullshit!" Joseph rolled his eyes after hearing this. "Who cares if you go bankrupt? And if you do go bankrupt, don't even think about eating and drinking for free at my house. I'll just let you watch me eat outside."
"Tsk, you are really vicious!" Colin shuddered, as if frightened by the scene, but in an instant he said confidently: "But I believe that day will never come. Well, let's not talk about these bad things. You drive a patrol car all day and you are the local boss of this area. Find a better restaurant quickly!"
"Oh, I forgot to ask you, John, what do you like to eat..."
"Me? I prefer Chinese food..."
"Did you hear that? Chinese food, Chinese food, Joseph..."
"Enough! I find that you are more nagging than me now. I am wondering, I am wondering..."
…
…
night.
The silver moon hangs high in the sky, and the stars in the sky make the entire night sky exceptionally bright.
After declining John's offer to take them both home, Colin and Josel walked side by side down the street.
"Now, Joseph, can John be trusted?"
On the somewhat empty road, Colin no longer looked as frank as he was at the dinner table, and asked in an unusually calm manner.
"What? Are you scared?"
Yosel asked with a sneer.
"Yeah, I'm a little scared. After all, it's $200,000, which is most of my savings. And he actually rejected the $10,000 reward I offered. This makes me a little worried."
Colin was not embarrassed and spoke frankly about his concerns.
The legal and reasonable $200,000 was his most important resource in his initial plan. If he was cheated, the entire initial growth plan would collapse on a large scale, with serious consequences.
"Don't worry, he won't cheat you for $200,000."
Seeing Colin's worried look, he lost the mood to tease and explained, "He can be said to be successful now. In his circle, he is also a top figure.
If he cheats you, his former good friend, out of your money today, his reputation will be completely ruined and no one will be willing to ask him for help anymore.
Unless you add two zeros to the end of your 200,000, it’s not worth it.”
Joseph shook his head and said this, after which Colin nodded slowly.
He could understand what Joseph meant, and he felt a little relieved.
Turning around and looking at Josel who began to talk about his own experience some time ago, he swallowed the thanks that was on the tip of his tongue.
Perhaps the original owner could accept Josel's help with peace of mind, but he was not the original owner after all, so he still had to accept this favor.
But verbal thanks are shallow after all. Some things should just be kept in your heart.
There was a fork in the road ahead, and it was time for them to part ways.
Colin turned around and said with a smile, "Well, I hope you can successfully deal with your difficult boss tomorrow. I also have to go back and rest early. After all, I have to follow John to deal with those materials tomorrow."
"But then again, why don't you take a few more days off? Even though your nagging can be annoying sometimes, it's still quite useful."
"roll!"
Seeing that Colin was going to treat him as a servant, Joseph uttered a word with a dark face.
"Haha, okay, no kidding, you better be careful, it's not safe where you live at night."
Colin was not angry even though he was scolded, but gave some caring advice.
"Well, I don't think anybody's brave enough to rob a policeman."
"Okay, I'm going back. You should be careful too."
After saying that, Joseph walked away without looking back. Colin looked at him, raised his eyebrows, and also walked towards his home.
(End of this chapter)