Chapter 83: Why Should I Cooperate with You?
Austin, the village chief of Summit Ridge Village, was counting down the days until Henry's release from prison, and it was giving him a headache.
Apart from the fact that Henry was imprisoned for attacking his father, there was another issue: the village beauty, Leon, who had always been in love with Andrew, was now Austin's wife.
Years ago, Henry had injured Austin for Leon's sake.
If Henry got out of prison and saw that Leon had become Austin's wife, what would happen?
So Austin sought help from higher authorities, which eventually brought the matter to Ruby's attention. After understanding the situation and learning about Henry's time in prison, Ruby decided to meet Henry.
Otherwise, as a leader in the organization department, she wouldn't have gone to the prison for an inspection.
After Ruby explained this, Henry clarified that Leon had nothing to do with him.
Ruby smiled, "Austin said you stood up for your brother back then. Actually, Austin first approached your brother, but your brother not only refused but also told him that you never had much of a relationship with him growing up, which Austin knew.
Your brother is now avoiding you, so how could he take you into his home?"
Henry smiled wryly, "Since you know I'm so disliked, why do you want me to do something for you?"
Ruby said, "As the saying goes, 'If you doubt someone, don't use them; if you use them, don't doubt them.' Since I plan to use you, I won't hide anything. I believe you prefer it that way."
Henry nodded.
Ruby continued, "My husband's children from his previous marriage have plenty of money and will only give my son some handouts. It's impossible for them to treat my son as their own brother.
I don't want my son to live off their charity. Although surpassing them might be a pipe dream, it's not impossible for him to be their equal.
My husband is considering retirement. The leaders of Ninth City called me to discuss this because my husband can choose to retire or not. They even promoted me by half a rank as a gesture of goodwill to both of us."
Henry didn't understand the intricacies of the political world, and the level Ruby talked about was not only out of reach for someone like him but also unimaginable.
So, he just nodded perfunctorily.
Ruby said, "Although I don't manage economic affairs, I have influence with economic leaders across various cities in the federation.
Now, there's a problem: I can't let my friends and relatives handle projects, as that would be too conspicuous and could easily lead to accusations of corruption.
Moreover, my family isn't very competent. Erick, who looks decent, is allowed to use my name occasionally, so he should focus on business.
But what does he do? He's not interested in any projects, preferring to run bars and mix with scum.
I originally wanted him to help my son accumulate his first bucket of gold, but he keeps causing trouble. Eventually, I stopped dealing with him and introduced him to Jason. Whatever problems he has, Jason handles them as best as he can. I never interfere."
Henry smiled, "Even so, if Erick gets into trouble, won't you still be implicated?"
Ruby shook her head, "So far, I've helped him a lot, but I haven't taken a penny from him. Even the gifts he sends during holidays, I make him take back.
Because of this, he rarely bothers me. This time, he was desperate and called me.
Plus, I didn't tell him I was staying at the Harbor Springs Hotel."
Henry straightened up, "You should know I was imprisoned for a crime, just got out, and caused a ruckus in Harbor Springs. Aren't you afraid I'll mess up your affairs?"
Ruby raised her glass and toasted Henry.
"The fact that you asked this question shows you won't mess up my affairs," Ruby said. "Actually, what I'm asking you to do is simple and mutually beneficial.
You should quickly register a company and engage in as many projects as possible. Bid on any profitable projects within the states.
Since we have no apparent connection, no one will suspect anything if I speak on behalf of your company.
Originally, I thought you'd start from scratch and get loans if you needed money.
But now I hear you have 900,000 and a 10% share in Erick's bar, so we can start with small projects. I'll help you turn that wealth into ten or even dozens of times more in the shortest time."
Henry smiled, "There's one thing I might have in common with your son: I have no concept of money.
I always feel that as long as one has enough to eat, wear, and use, there's no need to have so much money.
The 900,000 and the 10% share were mainly to teach Charles a lesson. For the injuries I suffered, a couple of thousand would have sufficed."
Ruby laughed, "I heard Erick and Victoria also wanted to pay you off, but you ignored them. This proves you're not greedy.
In today's society, a person who isn't greedy is a rarity.
As a partner, not being greedy is even more important than loyalty."
Henry smiled, "Leader, there's a problem you might not have realized. As the saying goes, 'Men die for wealth, birds die for food.'
For a greedy person, if you give him more money, he'll do anything for you, even sell his life.
But since I don't like money, why should I cooperate with you?"
Ruby was stunned, staring at Henry for a few minutes before suddenly laughing, "I really overlooked this issue. I thought that once the projects were successful, you could take a larger share of the profits, but now I see that's not the case.
I initially planned a 50-50 split if you started from scratch.
Now that you have 900,000, we can do a 60-40 split in your favor for future profits.
If you think that's too little, we can do 70-30.
My point is, you set the profit-sharing ratio. Also, tell me what I need to do to get you to agree to this cooperation."
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