Chapter 184: Andy's Brilliant Idea?
It was midnight in Houston.
At the city's primary hospital, in a certain ward, the Johnson family arrived in a flurry of concern, having heard the news that Grandpa Johnson had been hospitalized.
They had all come to visit as soon as they could.
Grandpa Johnson lay with an IV drip In the hospital bed, clutching his chest as he sighed heavily.
Surrounded by the members of the Johnson family, they began to lash out at Ryder Clark.
"I always knew that Ryder Clark was no good. He's gone way too far this time!"
"Exactly! How could someone be so heartless? We can't let this slide!"
"The simple solution is to call the cops and have him arrested. He made someone sick enough to be hospitalized!"
"But… there's no law against making someone angry..."
"Oh, seeing Grandma like this breaks my heart. How can Ryder Clark be so cruel?"
A wave of noise from everyone's chatter filled the room, making Grandpa Johnson feel inexplicably irritated.
He barked, "Quiet down, all of you! I'm not dead yet. What are you wailing for?"
The room went silent as they all turned to stare at Grandpa Johnson.
Grandpa Johnson, feeling helpless, rubbed his still-aching head and spoke, "It’s only a matter of time before we deal with that scoundrel Ryder Clark. But right now, our immediate concern is the Johnson family's financial situation. Spending $46 million on that villa was way beyond our budget, and we’ve been left with less than $4 million in cash.
"We have no leverage in the building materials market with that amount. If our partners find out, they'll cut ties with us! Anyone got a solution to this predicament?"
The family members looked disconcerted.
Living the high life was one thing, but coming up with a solution during the family's toughest time seemed near impossible!
Grandpa Johnson turned to Abigail Johnson and asked, "Do you have any ideas?”
Abigail Johnson was scrolling through photos of the stunning Platan Heights villas on her phone when she suddenly paused, an idea striking her. She smacked her forehead and exclaimed, "We're short on cash, right? Why don't we just borrow from the Windsors? We're on good terms with them. No doubt they can spare a cool million or two!"
Grandpa Johnson shook his head. "That won't do! Business partnerships are precarious, especially with someone like Lucas Windsor. If we approach him for a loan now, he'll definitely attach strings to the deal. Before you know it, the Johnson family could end up in the Windsor's pocket and never be able to to hold our heads high again!"
Abigail pouted. "Well then, I'm out of ideas!"
She returned to her virtual villa tour, dreaming of the day she'd move into Platan Heights and charm the owner of Villa No. 1, marrying into wealth and leaving her family's financial troubles behind. As for the Johnson family's cash crunch, she couldn't care less. What did it have to do with her once she achieved her goal?
Grandpa Johnson sighed at Abigail's response, his disappointment palpable. He glanced around at the rest of the Johnson clan, who all seemed to be avoiding eye contact, dreading being drawn into the conversation.
Just then, a voice piped up. "Grandma, I've got an idea!"
The voice belonged to Andy, whose streaking incident had caused quite a scandal for the Johnsons. Grandpa Johnson had been fuming ever since, but Andy was still his favorite grandson.
"Andy, let's hear this plan of yours," Grandpa Johnson said, his interest piqued.
Andy spoke confidently. "There's an old saying: all's fair in love and war. Right now, outsiders might speculate that us Johnsons are running low on cash, but that's all it is—speculation, with no hard proof. We just need to project an aura of impenetrable strength and keep them guessing."
Grandpa Johnson leaned in, intrigued. "Go on."
"On the face of it, buying the Platan Heights villa might look like a loss, but from another angle, it's a strategic win. First things first, owning the villa will prove to the world that we, the Johnsons, are a prominent Houston family.
“With that distinction alone, we've secured our family's status.
“Next, all we have to do is to hype up moving into the Platan Height villa. Puff it up, give the illusion of our rising power. It's bound to bolster the Johnson family's influence in Houston. Soon, many lesser families will be eager to rub shoulders with us!
“What we'll do then is throw a grand celebration, sticking to tradition, with dozens of tables right in the Platan Height villa.
“Imagine all those families and business partners coming to celebrate, having to present cash gifts ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands each.
“Heh, I did the math—if we set up just 50 tables, we're looking at cash gifts to a total over 20 million, at least! That's not even counting the hefty contracts some partners will sign with us on the side, bringing in even more profit."
A spark lit up in Grandpa Johnson's eyes as he heard Andy’s plan.
He was so thrilled he almost rolled right out of bed.
Excitedly, he exclaimed, "Outstanding! That's my grandson for you—sharp as a tack!"
Then, turning to the other Johnsons, he said, "See that? This is the real talent of our family, the kind who can turn the tide in tough times! Only a talent like him is fit to lead the Johnsons to new heights. You all should be taking notes!"
Naturally, this prompted the other Johnsons to butter up Grandpa with compliments, and they took the opportunity to praise Andy's prowess and potential.
Abigail Johnson rolled her eyes in annoyance.
She thought to herself that once she married into wealth, that 'genius' Andy would look no more significant than a court jester in her eyes!
But Andy himself was quite pleased.
He had seized the opportunity to shift his status in Grandpa Johnson's heart and silently commended his own cleverness.
Grandpa Johnson then asked, "Andy, when do you think we should hold the banquet?"
Andy pondered for a moment and suggested, "How about five days from now? September 1st. If I'm not mistaken, that's the third anniversary of Ryder Clark and that schemer Sarah Johnson's wedding."
“Their shameless behavior has caused us so much trouble. We should rub salt in their wounds on the day. We’ll invite everyone to the banquet and deliberately exclude them from the guest list. We want to make sure they’re green with envy and completely out of sorts!”
When Granpa Johnson heard that, he nodded in contentment, a wide smile stretching across his face, his wrinkles blooming like wild daisies in the sunlight.
The next morning, Ryder Clark dropped Sarah Johnson off at SR Group on his electric scooter before heading to work at Maple Real Estate. Ever since he had taken over the firm, the company had been thriving.
Now, both he and Sarah were swamped with their careers, which unfortunately left little time for heartfelt conversations. That was why Ryder had been fretting over what to do for their third anniversary on September 1st. How could he celebrate it in a way that would genuinely delight Sarah and be forever memorable?