1855 United States Tycoon

Chapter 3 The First Transaction

Back home, after dinner, the sky gradually dimmed. Old Joseph lit an oil lamp at the table as usual. Scrooge could do his homework and read books under the oil lamp, and Old Joseph could continue with the light. own work, and mother Laura also used the light to repair a pair of old socks, while Dage Carroll, who has been helping at home after finishing high school, turned through the light to read the textbooks he had studied before.

The high school homework of this era is still a bit too simple for Scrooge, and Scrooge finished it very quickly. Then he stopped writing and looked at own father. At this time, the old Joseph was concentrating on waxing a pair of newly made boots. His hands may have been dealing with leather for a long time. After the wax was stained, the dim light of the oil lamp also showed a similar pattern. The color of cooked yellow cowhide.

“Dad, I’m done.” Scrooge said.

“Oh.” Old Joseph raised his head and glanced at Own’s younger son. “Why is it so fast today? You see, I haven’t had time to get all these boots in place yet-do you still want to read the book?”

“No, Dad.” Scrooge replied.

“Ah, rest early then. You need to rest more now.” Old Joseph put down his boots, carefully covered the wax box, then wiped his hands on the apron hanging on his chest, from his work bench. Stood up.

“Dad, I have something to talk to you.” Scrooge said. John Rockefeller is still waiting for own news tomorrow.

“Oh, what’s the matter?” Old Joseph took out his old pipe, lit it on the oil lamp, took a puff, then bent down and blew out the oil lamp. Although the old Joseph’s house is not unable to light the oil lamp, since Scrooge’s homework has been completed, so there is a little savings.

As the warm orange light of the oil lamp disappeared, the whole room dimmed in an instant. Fortunately, the moon just poked her head out of the window and spilled her silver light into the room. So the general things in the room can still be seen clearly. Old Joseph went to his rocking chair and sat down, took out his old pipe, and said to Scrooge, “Well, you can tell me, I’m listening.”

“Dad, I want to know how much money we have for activities in our family.” Scrooge said after considering it.

“Why, do you need to pay any money in the school?” Old Joseph said not very much. “Although there is not much money at home, it is fine to let you study. You don’t have to worry about this.”

“No, Dad,” Scrooge said. “It’s John who is in trouble.”

“Oh.” Old Joseph said, “let’s talk about it.”

“John’s father told John that he can no longer provide tuition for John, and he said that John is old enough to earn money to support himself.” Scrooge said.

“It’s not easy for their family.” Mother Laura interrupted. “Joseph, Bill just saved our son. We have to help his son. They have many families and few people who can work. It is really difficult… , John should be graduating in June of this year. We must help others no matter what, at least let them get a graduation certificate.”

“Mom, John doesn’t plan to go on to high school, anyway, the high school diploma is useless.” Scrooge said.

“Well, John wants to find something to do, right?” Old Joseph said, “This kid is sensible! It’s just now, it’s not difficult to find something, but it’s not easy to find a better thing to do. I know a few Old patron…”

“Dad.” Scrooge interrupted Joseph, “John wants to go to business school first and learn how to keep books. He said that people who are currently absent from bookkeeping have learned this, and they pay more for doing things.”

“That’s true! John is really mindful! If you can be a bookkeeper, you can get five or six dollars a month. Not only is it enough for yourself, but it can also help Aliza… But, it seems like a business school. The tuition fees are not cheap… John wants to borrow money from us?” Joseph said.

“Yes, Dad.” Scrooge said. “Tuition costs 40 dollars. Mr. Bill has the money, but he refuses to give it to John. He only lends it to John, and he has to pay him. 15% interest. John felt that if 40 dollars were to be calculated at this interest, even if he found a job in the future, it would still be very difficult to pay off. So he wanted to borrow money from us. John said he could give us Twelve percent interest, which is much higher than the bank’s interest.”

“Oh!” Laura was surprised. “How can Mr. Bill treat his own son like this? This is really…” Considering that Bill is his son’s lifesaver, Laura felt that she could no longer use the words she used to describe this person. Mr. Bill murmured for a long time, but finally said nothing.

“Yes, this is indeed higher than the bank. However, John’s credit is not comparable to the bank.” Carol, who has no way to continue reading the textbook, said, “However, based on my dealings with John, John is reliable, he should be fine.”

“I can get forty dollars, and I can trust the boy John. It was the first time John discovered this when you fell and called someone. After all, he was kind to us. So I borrowed it. It’s not a big problem to give him money. But I’m not a Jew, how can I ask for such a high interest rate? And if Mr. Bill did this, maybe it was just to put some pressure on John? I don’t want Mr. Bill to think that I was ruined. His plan to educate children.” Joseph took a puff of his cigarette, his pipe lit up, and the dark red flame illuminated Joseph’s tall nose.

Scrooge was silent for a while. He knew that Mr. Bill’s demand for John Rockefeller to pay interest was definitely not what Joseph said was the pressure on children to “educate children”. Scrooge, who had read Rockefeller’s biography in his previous life, knew that this had saved him. Mr. Bill, who lives by himself, is not only a big liar who specializes in selling anti-cancer drugs, but also for bigamists. In fact, he is not short of money, and he has made a lot of money through fraud. It’s just that he always took the money to spend time and money, to raise his mistress, instead of improving the life of his wife and children. Of course, the pious and religious Aliza is also reluctant to take the “not clean” money from her husband. However, I can’t jump out to expose Mr. Bill’s old bottom, he is his own “savior”, and I can’t slander him casually.

After thinking about it, Scrooge said, “Dad, how about that? I have pulled down some homework. We can hire John to give me supplementary lessons, just after school and until dawn. Then we can pay John. , What do you think? Well, what I have pulled down is only a few days of courses. It will not take long to make up all of them, but at that time, John should have already studied in business school, and we can still hire him to learn from him. What I learned taught me and Big Brother. In this way, John’s pressure should be much less. And the ability to keep accounts is also very important to Dage. Dage will be the pillar of the future.”

Joseph didn’t make a sound, but Scrooge saw Dage Carroll sit up a bit, the moonlight shining through the window, shining on his eyes, reflecting bright light.”Well, this idea should work.” Joseph said, “but Scrooge, we can’t give him too much wages, otherwise, Mr. Bill will probably be dissatisfied. I want such a part-time job, We should give him 10 dollars. After all, he is not an authentic teacher. Well, Scrooge, you go talk to him tomorrow and see if he wants to.”

Early the next morning, John Rockefeller came to school with Scrooge as usual. The two walked out of the house and walked towards the school along the street paved with coal dust.

“Scrooge, what did your family say?” John Rockefeller asked a little anxiously.

“John, my father does not agree to lend you money. He suspects that the reason why your father wants to charge you high interest is to exercise your ability. He thinks we should not destroy your father’s plan. And he thinks that you pay No matter how high the interest is paid to your father, the money is still at Rockefeller’s house. If we give us interest, the money will come from Rockefeller’s house to our house.” Scrooge looked into John Rockefeller’s eyes and said. He noticed that when he said “My father disagrees”, the little disappointment that appeared in John’s eyes. When he was already talking about his father’s plan, he also noticed the mocking look in his eyes. After a flash of disappointment, there was a composure in his eyes that did not match the age of 16 years old. “It really is the man who will become the richest man in the future!” Scrooge couldn’t help but admire secretly in his heart.

“But John, it’s not that we don’t help you. We have another plan. Can you see if it works?” Scrooge said.

“What kind of plan?” John Rockefeller asked.

“We hire you to be my tutor. The working hours are from after school to dark. We pay you a total of 10 dollars, and you have to make up for my missing lessons. In addition, you are in business school. The knowledge of bookkeeping that I have learned should be taught to me and my Big Brother, especially my Big Brother, until I teach him. What do you think of this plan?”

John Rockefeller stopped and thought for a while without saying a word. Then said: “Thank you, I will teach you as much as possible. If you can’t learn it in the end, I will refund your salary and pay the interest according to the bank’s interest rate.”

“Very good.” Scrooge said, “So when are you going to drop out? In addition, we will also find time to discuss the details of the contract for this job.”

“I will go through the withdrawal procedures today.” John Rockefeller said, “I have explained to my mother, and my mother supports me. I will borrow money from Bill when I go back tonight, and then I can sign up tomorrow, and Houtian can go to the business school. I have studied. As for the details of the work contract, I will come to your house to discuss with Joseph Uncle after I have completed the withdrawal procedures…”