His Excellency the Count of Grandet

Guillaume was only surprised by Victor's arrival for a moment.After all, even if Shire handles most of the money flow, he doesn't know the exact amount, but he can estimate that it is a lot of money.

As the president of Pergo Bank, isn't it normal for Victor to check on the movement of such a large amount of funds?You must know that Victor has been known to take good care of the commission he is responsible for, and he will not relax in every link.It's just that Victor didn't say hello before he came, which was unexpected.

Therefore, when Guillaume came home and knew that a Mr. Lafitte had come, he hurriedly ordered the cook to add a few more dishes, and asked the servant to rearrange the table again.Not to mention flattery, at least you can't neglect Victor, right?

Because the interval was too long, Guillaume had temporarily forgotten the slightest suspicion he had just based on his feelings.

When Charles and Victor came to the restaurant one after the other, they saw such a scene - a small long dining table was covered with white and delicate embroidered tablecloths, and fish steaks, thick soup, fruits, and champagne were all available. It looks like a small banquet.

Victor couldn't help but glanced at Charles, which was meaningful.Look, Guillaume knows to entertain me specially!

Charles pretended not to see it, and went straight to Guillaume.If it wasn't for my dad not being able to spot it, I would have given you a fist just now, face-on!

Victor subconsciously touched his nose and smiled wryly.It's really not easy to do...

But there was a dark undercurrent between the two of them, which Guillaume didn't notice. "Mr. Lafitte! Why didn't you inform us before you came? We can send someone to pick you up, so you don't have to keep asking for directions!"

"It's nothing." Victor resumed his aloof demeanor in front of other people in a second, his face remained motionless, "Didn't I find it now?"

"That's true," Guillaume said honestly, "You came from Paris, did you take a boat? Going upstream is a hard job."

"There is a car in front and a boat in the back. The scenery of the Marne River is good, but it's not too tiring."

Guillaume nodded again. "That's good. But anyway, you've come all the way here, and it's hard work. Let us entertain your hungry stomach first, and then take you to visit the factory tomorrow, what do you think?"

"Of course that's good." At this time, Victor had already walked near the long table and smiled. "When I smell the scent, I'm really hungry."

Guillaume felt instantly flattered.Not only because of Victor's words, but also because of Victor's expression.Mr. Banker seems to be in a good mood today...

Then Guillaume immediately thought that Charles sent plans and reports to Victor from time to time.Thinking about it, those must have done very well to Victor's liking, and all possible problems must have been solved in the study just now!

The actual result was similar to Guillaume's guess.It's just a process... In his imagination, Charles and Victor should be sitting at the front and back tables, drinking coffee once in a while, and discussing business in a serious way, instead of the topic being too far-fetched, The kind of close contact where the distance is almost zero.

"That's just right!" Guillaume said with a smile, "I'll wait for you to come out for dinner!"

Until he sat down at the table, Ciel said nothing but nodded.Let's pretend, let's see how long Victor can pretend!

In the next few days, the father and son of the Grandet family took Victor to inspect all of Eperna's sites.

Meanwhile, Charles' birthday came.It is a pity that Guillaume was not able to make a big deal of it because of the right time and place and inappropriate reasons.But Charles heaved a sigh of relief—the last birthday party was a headache, and he didn't want to have it again; it turns out that an uninvited guest like Victor is still useful?

In any case, Victor, the giant Buddha with a strong sense of presence, successfully diverted Guillaume's focus.When Charles proposed to go to Nancy again, he agreed without hesitation: "That's just right. Mr. Lafitte also wants to know the details of this aspect, so you can take him there!" Then he approached Charles, He whispered: "If possible, do some research along the way."

Charles knew it well.They plan to build a railway from Nancy to Chalon (because the Marne-Rhine Canal has not yet been dug, coal must be transported by land), and even hope that it will be extended to Paris.This idea is of course good, but you also have to worry about others getting a share of the action.It would be great if we could take advantage of Victor's reputation and get rid of officials, large and small, along the road first.

This is fundamentally different from leasing the railway for ten years - a private railway that traverses half of France!Direct access to Paris, convenient and fast!If it can be completed, in addition to transporting the coal they need, they can also expand their business to transportation. Wouldn't it kill two birds with one stone?

At this time, I have to say that the shrewdness of the Grandet family is just like the surname, flowing in the blood vessels, deep in the bone marrow, and existing in every cell in the body; this shrewdness is said to be the inheritance of their family. Instinct can't be overstated!

"Thank you for your reminder, I understand." Charles finally replied.But in fact, what he thought in his heart was, well, this time he must go with Victor, wouldn't it create many opportunities for him?

So, at the end of June, the two set off in a carriage.Charles originally hoped that the two cars would sit separately, but there were only two of them, and one car was enough, and the separation was more deliberate, and it was easy for others to see the clues, so they had to give up.Besides, one learns one's wisdom; be prepared, will he repeat the same mistakes?

In contrast, Victor seemed very happy, or in high spirits. "I've never been so far east before," he said, raising the silk curtains with one hand to look out, "but this place looks a bit like Bordeaux."

At this time, the carriage had just driven out of the low city wall of Eperna, and beyond the wall were stretches of grape fields.Because of the hilly terrain, they look like neat undulating green waves.At the end of June, the fruit is still immature, and bunches of green grapes hang all over the branches.

"It just looks like it." Charles replied with a cold snort.When he was not in front of people, he was impatient to show a gentle, courteous and frugal appearance to Victor—it was useless to Victor anyway, so why should he waste his energy?

But having said that, when it comes to grapes, Mr. Myron's letter mentioned that those grapes that have been interplanted and grafted are growing well, and the harvest will be good by visual inspection.But this is the first year, and no one knows what the taste of those grapes is, so how many oak barrels to prepare becomes a problem——

Oak barrels must be made of newly felled oak in that year, so that the wine tastes good.M. Myron therefore wrote to Charles asking whether he should take the risk and buy more.After all, they have taken the risk of planting such grapes on the best land, and hired technicians; the initial investment is already huge, so why save money later?

Charles thought so.It was obviously too early to count on his family's dozens of hectares of small oak forests, and he felt that Mr. Miron's idea of ​​planning to order wine barrels in advance was correct.After calculating the expenses in his mind, he felt that it was time to invest more in Bordeaux.The East has been so busy lately that he almost neglected the Southwest...

"... Shire? Shire?" A hand waved twice in front of Shire.

"What's the matter?" Charles came back to his senses, and was not surprised to find that the owner of his hand was Victor.

Victor withdrew his hand, all he wanted to do was sigh in frustration. "I only mentioned Bordeaux! Where did you think of?"

"What do you think?" Charles threw a question back.He didn't explain what he was thinking!

Seeing Charles' innocent expression, Victor was even more frustrated.

Is this still a rhetorical question?Charles must have thought of his grapes in Bordeaux—there are hundreds of hectares, the land is not very good, and Charles had to spend several months managing it last year; but the news came back this year, saying that the growth is more gratifying than previous years.

So what could Charles think?Surely I can only think of my own wine!

"I always thought that it was a wise decision for me to hire you as an investment agent." Sighing, Victor still said it out.

Charles glanced at him. "You can think so now." He paused, "By the way, I think so too, although I personally think that the adjective should be cunning."

"I didn't say that the feeling of this decision has changed to me now." Victor didn't want to argue with Ciel now about whether his decision was wise or cunning.At the same time, when Charles said "I think so too", it was his self-confidence, not his arrogance.This was the Shire he knew, low-key, proud and definitely not to be underestimated. "I just want to say that if I had another chance, I would definitely think about it again."

"Why?" asked Charles, raising an eyebrow.

"Because, if I didn't want you to agree so much, I wouldn't have made such a big deal." Victor spread his hands, "And if I didn't do that then, you wouldn't be so busy now, would you?"

"Busy?" Charles asked again.

"Yeah, busy," Victor began to shrug his shoulders now, with a helpless expression on his face, "so busy with all kinds of things that he didn't notice anything else at all." He was such a big living person, sitting in front of Charles. Orle can just ignore his thoughts about wine—

What about his presence?Is it that low?

Charles looked at Victor from head to toe, and from foot to head with a critical look. "You're sorry," he said firmly.

Victor was noncommittal.If he regretted handing over his assets to Shire, he definitely didn't - just kidding, Shire is already better at doing business than many seasoned businessmen he has met, okay?In fact, there is only one thing that he regrets, that is, he didn't think at the beginning that he would be deeply attracted by Charles later on.As a result, he now has a growing sense of foreboding about his greatest rival in love—

The work can never be done, does it mean that he will never have a chance?

"Did you say before that you never hang out with your partner?" Victor asked coldly. "Because when you want to talk about money, they may talk to you about feelings?"

Charles didn't expect the other party's topic to change so quickly, so he couldn't help but stare suspiciously. "Yes. How?"

"You must know what I think about you." Victor spread his hands, "I can't bear it if this goes on... When I can't bear it anymore, I think you and I don't want to know what will happen. "

It's not good for any of them if things get big.And I have to say that Victor does have the energy to make Paris and even the whole of France bloody.

Charles didn't answer immediately this time.Victor said it straightforwardly and clearly, and he should show a corresponding attitude. "What do you want?" he asked finally.

"I don't want to," Viktor replied, bending over Ciel so that their eyes met within a palm's length of each other. "I just want you to try."

"Try what?" Charles couldn't hold back, and raised an eyebrow.If Victor dares to try on the bed, be careful with his gun!

Victor looked at Charles' expression and suddenly smiled. "It's not what you think," he said, "it's something else—I promise not to get close to you without your consent, and you just try to accept the other person's presence around you, huh?"