America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 605 Meeting at the Scottish Restaurant
The steel tycoon asked Chen Jianqiu to meet at a Scottish restaurant at Pier 16.

He drove his own Ford car along the coast road, attracting a lot of attention and turning heads.

Chen Jianqiu gave some small suggestions on Ford's design.

Since he was both a major shareholder and a customer, Henry Ford had to adopt his opinion.

Ford's products directly skipped the clumsy four-faced stage of the early rise, and went straight to the Model T.

"Chen, why don't we keep a low profile?" Roosevelt asked while sitting in the co-pilot.

"Strength does not allow it." Chen Jianqiu replied succinctly, "Besides, I bought it with my own money and drove it myself. What's the problem?"

When their car arrived at the pier, Chen Jianqiu was surprised to find an identical car parked in front of the restaurant.

A young man was lying on the driver's seat of the car,

Seeing Chen Jianqiu and the others coming, the young man immediately got out of the car and walked up to Chen Jianqiu and Roosevelt who had just parked the car.

"Hello, Mr. Chen, I am Mr. Carnegie's driver, and he is already waiting for you in the box."

Roosevelt glanced at Chen Jianqiu:
"Look, he is called a tycoon. He has a full-time driver. How can anyone drive by himself every day like you?"

Chen Jianqiu bent down in front of the car and glanced at his front wheel.

"Can't I be your driver, Mr. Vice President?" He straightened up and said to Roosevelt.

Two people entered the restaurant.

Chen Jianqiu put the fish tank on the table, ordered the staff to carry the fish to the back kitchen for disposal, and walked into the box with Roosevelt.

Carnegie sat in his seat, staring at the tablecloth in a daze.

This was the first time Chen Jianqiu met Carnegie.

The old man had a thick beard.

This made his face look a bit square, and his expression was quite serious.

Among the important people Chen Jianqiu met in the United States, most of them still like to grow beards.

There are not many people who shave their faces like shelled eggs like Anderson and McKinley.

"Mr. Carnegie! It's the first time we meet, please take care of me." Chen Jianqiu walked quickly to Carnegie.

Carnegie stood up.

He glanced at Roosevelt beside Chen Jianqiu.

As we all know, Mr. Carnegie turned his back on the election and supported the Democratic candidate, Blaine, on the grounds that he could not understand the growing tendency of expansion during the McKinley administration.

Roosevelt was more radical than McKinley in terms of letting the United States go to the world, so it is naturally impossible for Carnegie to support him.

But the old man still shook Roosevelt's hand:

"Mr. Vice President, although our political views differ, I still admire your courage on the battlefield."

Roosevelt greeted Carnegie politely.

In his eyes, American tycoons are basically the same kind, except for Chen Jianqiu, who is an outlier.

This person has no bodyguards, no driver, and even the servants were provided by Astor when he sold the house to him. It is really shabby.

The three sat down around the table.

Carnegie waved his hand to the waiter outside the door, the waiter nodded and closed the door of the box.

"Can the steel materials provided by our company meet the requirements of your helmet?" Carnegie asked while arranging the tableware in front of him.

"Let's make do with it, it's better than iron." Chen Jianqiu seems to have no idea what "emotional intelligence" is, and he doesn't give face to the steel tycoon at all. "My own smelter will also try to produce some special steel, but the output has not been increasing. Come."

"Special steel?" Carnegie narrowed his eyes, which made his originally small eyes look like they were gone.

"Well, I let the laboratory try to mix some other metals into it, the effect may be better." Chen Jianqiu seemed to be thinking about something.

"Mr. Chen's generous investment in scientific research is also worthy of respect." Carnegie praised again.

A steel tycoon is not the same as a domineering Rockefeller.

He lost his father since he was a child and was born in a poor family. With his own efforts, he worked hard from the bottom step by step.

So when it comes to relationships, Carnegie is much better at it.

He never spared his compliments, nor did he let the other party feel that he was being polite on purpose.

"Boom, boom"

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Carnegie said loudly.

The door of the box was opened, and the waiter came in with a tray.

There was an oval-shaped object on the plate, which was still steaming hot.

Chen Jianqiu had never seen this thing before.

He observed it carefully, and felt that this thing was a bit like "belly meat".

At this time, another waiter came in.

He divided the three plates in front of the three people.

The plate is filled with mashed potatoes and kohlrabi, which seems to be this side dish that looks like "belly meat".

Whiskey was also poured into three empty glasses.

Until now, Chen Jianqiu still felt that the whole situation looked okay.

Then, he couldn't hold back anymore.

The first waiter picked up a knife and gently broke open a layer of light yellow something like morel on the surface of the ellipsoid.

A pile of minced meat-like things of indescribable shape squeezed out from the groove.

However, what comes out of the lamb belly is not only minced meat, but also aroma.

This dish is indeed delicious.

"Try our most famous dish in Scotland, 'haggis'." Carnegie said, pointing to the brown minced meat. "It has lamb stomach, lamb heart, lamb lung, lamb liver, etc. spices."

The waiter distributed the brown minced meat to everyone's plates.

But Chen Jianqiu still couldn't put down the spoon for a while.

Really, it's too much like something.

How did these Scots make such a disgusting thing out of something so good?This is almost the same as the finished product of the third brother in India.

And Roosevelt on the side also showed embarrassment, probably having the same trouble as Chen Jianqiu.

Carnegie seemed to have anticipated the reaction of the two, he laughed, and then began to taste the "Scottish national dish".

"Mr. Carnegie, do you have anything to do with me?"

Chen Jianqiu did mental training, and finally dug a spoon into his mouth.

There is nothing in my heart, even if I look like it again, I will not feel sick.

The taste is actually really good.

Carnegie was in no hurry to answer.

After taking a few mouthfuls, he put down his spoon, picked up the glass next to him, and took a sip of the whiskey in the glass.

"Mr. Chen, I heard that you have established a complete pension and mutual aid system for your workers, but if that is the case, it may not be a good thing for the development of the company."

Carnegie put down his glass and spoke slowly.

"Oh? Why?" Chen Jianqiu asked while eating.

"You take care of them, but there are a lot of lazy people in those workers, and you don't think that's going to make a lot of them work for nothing," Carnegie said.

"With all due respect, I think your worries are unfounded," Chen Jianqiu dismissed. "These are two different things. This is never a charity, but what those workers deserve."

"I don't know how your workers are, but lazy people don't show up in my factory,"

Carnegie nodded thoughtfully, but then asked again:
"If this is the case, wouldn't you have to spend a lot of money? This is not good for the accumulation of your personal wealth."

"Why do I need so much money?" Chen Jianqiu said in the usual non-surprising way.

This time, Carnegie was silent.

After a long time, he began to continue talking:
"Mr. Chen, if you say that I am willing to sell my company to someone else, such as you, would you be interested?
"I don't have the funds to buy your assets, and I can't give you a high price, I'm afraid I'll disappoint you." Chen Jianqiu answered simply.

"However, Mr. Carnegie, how did you think of selling your shares in the steel company?" Roosevelt asked a little puzzled.

"Because I'm old."

Carnegie laughed again.

"Also, I plan to get some money back."

(End of this chapter)