For example, Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Gou, greatly admired the calligrapher Mi Fu and often bestowed upon him large amounts of gold and silver treasures, even though Mi Fu had only written one piece of calligraphy.
If Zhao Gou were merely a prince, it wouldn't matter how he rewarded him. But he was the emperor of a nation, and such a reward would chill the hearts of others, especially the generals who fought on the battlefield.
Similarly, if Yi Shuihan hadn't been so loyal to SMMH, he would certainly have been dissatisfied with this arrangement.
Or perhaps... SMMH has sufficient reason to make such an arrangement?!
Grandpa Guan fell into deep thought, because people in their positions could make decisions that could determine the rise and fall of their families. But he never expected that SMMH's actions were nothing more than using public office for private gain. It was like Chen Xu taking money out of his left hand and putting it into his right pocket. Well, to use a business term in the butler's business, it's called laundering.
Launder the money so you can use it yourself!
However, such a simple method is hardly like that of a world-famous internet god whose identity is still unknown to anyone. But sometimes people think too complicatedly about things. In reality, this matter is very simple, so simple that no one would believe it if it were said out loud.
Seeing the change in his father's expression, Guan Yi frowned and said, "Dad, is there a problem? Chen Xu is fully qualified now."
Seeing his daughter's anxious expression, Guan Yi's father laughed and said, "Oh, it seems you're very worried about that kid. However, your guess is wrong."
"oh?"
"As the heir to the family business, you should be very clear about our family's wealth and power. The richest man in the mainland? Heh, you should know the meaning behind that title. Although a net worth of over 10 billion RMB is not a small amount, it is just the sum of a little over a year's income for us. If we want, we can create a richest man in China at will! This amount of money is nothing to us, you should know that."
"So!" Old Master Guan smiled. "You're so worried that Chen Xu isn't qualified, but have you ever thought that if that boy's other abilities are enough to match the future husband of the housekeeper, then what if he's a penniless pauper?"
These words left Guan Yi speechless.
She had always been preoccupied with Chen Xu's background. Having been raised with the policy of marrying someone of equal social standing, she hadn't considered this possibility. With the housekeeper's abilities, she could easily transform a beggar into a world-class tycoon! If that's the case, why impose such high requirements on the man's financial situation?!
Thinking of this, Guan Yi couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly. She had thought herself clever, yet she hadn't even thought of such a simple question! Was she blinded by infatuation, or was her way of thinking inherently flawed?
If only I had known... if only I had known.
She should have struck first before Chen Xu developed feelings for Zhan Jing and Gao Xiaojie, instead of ending up in this situation where she has to share a man with other girls, yet she just can't bring herself to refuse him.
This might be fate, this is destiny!
Seeing Guan Yi lost in thought, how could Old Master Guan know what his daughter was thinking? How could he have imagined that his proud daughter would be willing to share a man and a love with another girl?
But in Grandpa Guan's heart, there was also doubt and uncertainty: "If Chen Xu were just that ordinary family's child back then, and you, daughter, had feelings for him, and I also think highly of this young man, then if you really wanted to be together in the future, although there would be some obstacles, it wouldn't be a big problem. But now, things have changed..."
Chapter 343 The Future
When Guan Yi returned to the hotel private room with a heavy heart, he found that Chen Xu was not there. After inquiring, he learned that Chen Xu had gone to the casino on the second floor of the hotel.
Guan Yi was first taken aback, then chuckled. People often say that a little gambling is harmless fun, but excessive gambling is harmful. Guan Yi was certain that Chen Xu wasn't someone who was particularly interested in gambling; at most, it was just for fun. Moreover, although Las Vegas no longer relies solely on gambling to sustain its economy, as the world's most famous gambling city, coming to Las Vegas without visiting a casino would be a wasted trip.
This hotel has a casino from the second floor to the basement, and it's a very luxurious casino.
After Guan Yi came down, she was naturally greeted by someone. As the eldest daughter of the housekeeper, the casino was practically hers, so she asked the casino's management and quickly found Chen Xu.
However, Guan Yi was quite surprised when she found Chen Xu. In Guan Yi's mind, Chen Xu was probably exchanging some chips and having a great time. Anyway, she didn't care about that little bit of money, and neither did Chen Xu. It was normal for him to spend some money to play and have some fun.
Many people think that ordinary people can't even get into these casinos or afford to play, but that's wrong. They're scared off by the millions of dollars in chips shown in some Hong Kong gambling movies.
Admittedly, there are many people in the world who can easily gamble hundreds of thousands or tens of millions of dollars, but most are still ordinary people, right? Where would they find so much money to gamble? That's why casinos like this only require a minimum bet of $5. Don't underestimate that small amount; it adds up to a considerable sum. Of course, if you can win a single high-stakes gamble, you could even win the entire annual profit of a major casino in one go!
But such gambling is rare; most people come in and spend a few hundred or a thousand dollars to play around.
When Guan Yi spotted Chen Xu, the guy was wandering around the casino like a ghost. Guan Yi glanced at his hand and saw that he was holding a few twenty-dollar chips, looking around with great interest, but he hadn't placed any bets.
Guan Yi called over the casino manager and asked, "Do you remember how many chips that gentleman just exchanged?"
The manager looked at Chen Xu and then smiled, "He only exchanged $100 worth of chips. In addition, our casino gives new customers $100 worth of chips, so he only has $200 in total. And this gentleman has been in the casino for, well, an hour and twenty minutes. We've seen him mostly just watching from the sidelines and rarely placing any bets."
Guan Yi nodded in satisfaction and asked in surprise, "How can you remember it so clearly?"
The manager smiled and said, "That's a friend brought by Miss, so naturally we need to take good care of her."
Guan Yi nodded, waved for the manager to leave, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face. It was his first time in a casino, and almost half of his chips were still left after nearly an hour and a half. It seemed that the man he had chosen was gradually maturing. If it had been a year ago, Chen Xu would probably have exchanged his chips for a bunch of chips and started playing around!
Those who run casinos know that those who lose everything at the gambling table are basically high rollers who gamble big and throw money around, or rather, idiots.
In reality, many gambling techniques aren't as mysterious as they seem. The card-changing tricks depicted in movies are just directorial gimmicks to fool the audience. In today's gambling world, in well-known casinos like Las Vegas, where would anyone have the opportunity to cheat? Almost any loophole for cheating has been completely shut down. The idea that the house could cheat at the table through methods like, as often seen in movies, rolling dice but filling them with mercury or magnets so the house could secretly press a button to change the dice... is impossible!
Because if any casino dared to do this, once discovered, they would face closure! Especially in the West, reputation is extremely important. Once a casino's cheating behavior is exposed, it will be worthless after losing its reputation!
Therefore, many gambling techniques rely primarily on luck. Of course, there are techniques like judging the dice's value by sound and calculating cards while playing, which certainly involve skill, but we won't go into detail about those. However, can someone who gets carried away and throws all their money around calmly pay attention to these techniques? That's why such people are the most foolish, and also the ones casinos love most.
Guan Yi had assumed that Chen Xu, being young and impulsive, would certainly indulge in a lot of games on his first visit to such a place. However, to her surprise, although Chen Xu was enthusiastic, he didn't make a move. Curious, she quietly walked up behind Chen Xu, who was still paying attention to the dice cup on the table, muttering something to himself.
Guan Yi walked up behind him and then heard him muttering, "Big, big, big..."
Guan Yi chuckled, grasped Chen Xu's hand, and asked with a smile, "How much did you bet?"
Chen Xu turned around and saw that it was her. He laughed and said, "I didn't bet a single penny, but I was guessing big or small. Gambling doesn't necessarily mean betting chips. Oh dear, I just did the math, and my luck is really not good. I secretly bet more than twenty times in my mind and only guessed correctly three or four times. If I had put down chips, I would have lost everything long ago."
Seeing his naivety, Guan Yi chuckled and said, "Then why do you still have such a smug look on your face?"
"Of course!" Chen Xu replied matter-of-factly, "Think about it, it's a good thing I didn't place any bets, otherwise I would have lost everything by now, wouldn't I? I didn't place any bets, so it's like I won, and of course I'm happy if I win!"
Guan Yi shook his head helplessly and said, "What if the numbers you guessed were all correct? Wouldn't you feel very regretful and regret not placing a bet?"
"I'm sure I'll have some regrets," Chen Xu said frankly. "But firstly, I didn't have high hopes to begin with. Secondly, it's just a small amount of money. I enjoy the result of guessing the odds correctly, so whether I get the money or not doesn't really matter."
"What if you guessed lottery numbers but didn't buy a ticket, and that very number won you a multi-million dollar jackpot?"
"Uh..." Chen Xu looked troubled, scratching his head. "This is indeed very frustrating, but don't worry, I won't buy a lottery ticket, hehehehe..."
Guan Yi shook his head with a wry smile. Sure enough, he was still the same. But it was precisely because of this that he had fallen so deeply into this situation.
Next, Guan Yi showed Chen Xu around the casino, affectionately linking arms with him the whole way. There were quite a few people in the casino who recognized the young lady, leading to much surprise. It seemed the usually aloof and arrogant young lady had a boyfriend. This news caused countless wealthy young men, all eyeing the young lady, to drive over, eager to see which clueless toad had won her favor.
At this moment, Guan Yi's heart was not at peace either.
As she smiled and explained the rules and gameplay of the various gambling techniques to Chen Xu, she was actually thinking about what her father had just told her.
"That SMMH is truly too mysterious and too terrifying. For decades, our steward has been striving to stay out of the media spotlight, adhering to the ancient Chinese strategy of concealing our strength and biding our time. What we don't know is the most frightening. No one knows the true extent of our steward's financial power, and that's our greatest asset. Back in the day, the Rothschild family was known as the sixth largest empire in Europe, but what happened? They became the target of everyone's ire! And this SMMH, ugh, what a terrible name, so hard to pronounce! According to our intelligence, this guy possesses technology that leads the world, and this technology extends to many areas, not just computers... Judging from his current rate of development, if he still has some of this technology, then within twenty years, his power might even pose a threat to us."
"Our family has been going overseas since the Self-Strengthening Movement. It took generations and countless descendants to work hard and experience the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities of World War I and World War II to develop to where we are today. But I never expected that SMMH could achieve this in such a short time with its world-leading technology all by itself... Indeed, in today's world, technology is the primary productive force."
At this moment, Guan Yi was confused and asked, "Father, Chen Xu is a student of SMMH, so it can be said that SMMH is on our side. If that's the case, then we don't need to treat him as an enemy, right?"
“Not an enemy, but a rival,” said Grandpa Guan. “Our family would naturally not easily offend someone like that. Take a look at this information. This is what SMMH did a few months ago, after your little boyfriend was assassinated by 'Tarot'… He directly took over the entire US military system! With such a terrifying existence, who wouldn't be cautious? Even the US military, which always thought it was the best in the world, didn't dare to utter a word after suffering such a huge loss! Why? There is no absolute power in this world, only relative power! The Americans are arrogant because they have the capital to be arrogant towards other countries. They dare to attack whoever they don't like! But what about SMMH? They have to consider that if they really fight SMMH to the death, they have to be prepared for half of the US territory and all developed cities to become ruins… even, preparations for World War III!”
"It can't be that exaggerated, can it?"
"No way?" Old Master Guan scoffed. "You know our family business. The US military places exorbitant orders with us every year. They can't hide their dirty secrets from us. To be honest, the information we have shows that the SMMH is fully capable of launching a nuclear missile without alerting the Pentagon and the White House! And shutting down the entire US defense system! With such an existence, would they dare to act rashly? So, this person is someone we can't afford to offend. Xiao Yi, it's all thanks to you that he's become a friend of our family. You've secured a powerful ally for the family!"
Before Guan Yi could speak, Old Master Guan waved his hand and continued, "That Chen Xu, I don't know what aspect caught the eye of this extraordinary person, but he was given five percent of the shares in Translator! If you become friends with him, it's like securing SMMH firmly on our side, which will greatly benefit the family's development!"
“But…” Upon hearing this word, Guan Yi’s face darkened, and then Old Master Guan continued, “But, for you, I don’t think that this Xiao Chen would be a perfect son-in-law for our family.”
"Why?"
Grandpa Guan looked at his daughter and said seriously, "With your intelligence, you should have figured it out by now. As I said before, your father is not a snob, and our family has no need to be. If Chen Xu's family were just a small one, I could have waited for him to grow up and even specially cultivated him. But now, the situation has changed somewhat..."
"It's because Chen Xu has suddenly gained the favor of that mysterious SMMH for some reason. He's even gotten a share of the lucrative 'Translator of Babel,' a business that even our family envies," Guan Yi interjected. "While 'Translator' alone isn't enough to create a new power that could threaten our family, who knows what else SMMH has up its sleeve? And since SMMH values Chen Xu so much, it's understandable that they might be considering grooming him as their representative in the real world. The family alliance, on the one hand, strengthens the relationship between two equally powerful families through marriage, but on the other hand, it's crucial to ensure that the person chosen for the marriage doesn't possess too much power. Otherwise, it could very well lead to our family being swallowed up by someone else..."
Guan Yi took a deep breath and looked at Grandpa Guan: "Dad, am I right?"
Grandpa Guan closed his eyes: "You're right, so think it over carefully. Life is full of disappointments, seven or eight out of ten things are not as you wish. As the only heir of the family now, and my only daughter, you must consider the interests of the entire family. This is your fate, and it is also the sacrifice you... must make."
That's hilarious!
Guan Yi felt an urge to burst out laughing.
People often say that fate plays tricks on people, and today she realized that it was indeed true!
I used to worry about Chen Xu's family background and felt that the two of us had no future, so I hesitated. But now I realize that my worries were completely unnecessary, and now this problem has arisen even when I wasn't worried.
For a large family, in order to ensure the continuation of its talent pool or to build strong allies, marriage alliances are inevitable.
While the children of such families enjoy an education far exceeding that of ordinary people due to their wealthy upbringing, they are also more prone to producing incompetent individuals due to their early exposure to luxury.
However, while no one wants a good-for-nothing in such a marriage, it is also important to note that someone who is too outstanding, ambitious, capable, and has their own power is also undesirable!
Especially when it comes to finding a son-in-law!
In this world, men still have a relative advantage, and the same is true in matters of the heart. Between men and women in their twenties, girls are more likely to fall into so-called love and be blinded by it.
Therefore, for a girl like Guan Yi to be the sole heir of her family, her man must be carefully chosen! Ability is certainly important, but at the same time, he cannot have strong ambition... Guan Yi's father is quite satisfied with Chen Xu in this regard. Although this young man is still quite immature, it can be seen that he does not have much ambition, so there is no need to worry that he will turn around and seize the family's assets in the future.
However, Chen Xu now possesses considerable strength!
This thing is more terrifying than ambition!
If we're just talking about ambition, many people have it to some extent, but even with ambition, it's difficult for them to succeed because these ancient families have their own methods of handling things. However, if someone with inherent power intervenes in this family, they are very likely to use their status and power to change the family's name!
This is possible!
As for Chen Xu, he would be fine as an ordinary person, but unfortunately, he has the powerful support of SMMH. In a few years, the power Chen Xu wields, or rather, the power of SMMH, could potentially threaten the Butler, or even seize control of him. This must absolutely not be allowed to happen!
Therefore, Guan Yi was extremely distressed. She was filled with regret that she had been so arrogant and intelligent, yet ended up like this.
But now, although she didn't cause this outcome herself, it's too late for regrets. How can she explain it to Chen Xu?
However, there is still a glimmer of hope for a turnaround, which depends on Chen Xu's performance and the future development of SMMH.
If they maintain their current momentum, SMMH's current wealth certainly qualifies them for a deep collaboration with the steward. As SMMH's protégé, a marriage between Chen Xu and Guan Yi would be highly beneficial in fostering closer relations between the two sides… This is a political marriage, indeed. For these powerful families, marriage isn't some so-called love story, but rather a responsibility. Fortunately, the couple in this political marriage are lucky enough to love each other.
However, Guan Yi still had an idea in his mind...
Will SMMH's development come to an end?
Absolutely not!
At his rate of development, he will expand into a behemoth within three years that will make any power in the world tremble! However, this does not seem to be his limit!
Let's strive for development!
Although this may just be a joke, this may just be an impossible dream... In just over three years, it has developed into a power that has surpassed two hundred years of accumulation, experienced countless unrepeatable development opportunities due to historical changes, and gained what can almost be called a new life, thus becoming the king in the shadows of this world, a powerful empire!
Can SMMH surpass his own family? Can Chen Xu surpass his own family and use the strongest power to break through all obstacles?
Chapter 344 of the main text: The visitor is not friendly.
A fleet of luxury sports cars sped to a stop in front of the casino.
Seeing luxury cars in Las Vegas isn't unusual. While it may not be as extravagant as Dubai, it's arguably even more so in some aspects. Hotels and casinos here provide limousines for guests, and the parking lots of the top casinos are veritable luxury car shows.
But these sports cars are somewhat different.