After walking out of the restaurant, Jasper bid Vita and John goodbye.
“Well, since we didn’t get to eat the blowfish today, looks like you’ll have to go and look for something else to eat, Vita,” Jasper joked.
Vita smiled wryly and said in a slightly embarrassedly tone, “The dinner was supposed to be something great. Who’d have thought that this incident would destroy everyone’s good mood.”
“What do you mean destroy?”
Jasper glanced at John and said with a smile, “I was in a pretty good mood tonight. Weren’t you, John?”
John understood Jasper’s intention and internally exclaimed to himself how smooth and slick a person Jasper was. He told Vita, “It’s fine, Vita. Don’t worry about something so insignificant. We’re all friends here, so let’s not dwell on what’s already happened.”
Vita nodded, feeling much less conflicted as he replied, “You’re right. I’ll owe you guys this meal then, and invite you out again when I find something good later.”
“You better tell me in advance. I’ll eat less for breakfast so I can eat more out of your wallet,” Jasper said.
The three exchanged a look before laughing out loud. Jasper had originally planned to talk to the two a little longer before his phone suddenly rang.
Seeing that it was a call from Jake, Jasper knew that the other would not contact him so late at night unless it was something important.
“Alright. I still have a few things to do, so let’s talk more in the future,” Jasper said as he opened the car door.
Neither John nor Vita asked him to stay. The two each promised to meet again before they watched Jasper’s Bentley drive away.
“Sigh. I remember the first time I saw him when he wanted to buy a plot of land in Waterhoof City. He was just a slightly wealthy businessman back then.”
“But he’s reaching higher and higher heights now.” Vita lamented.
What he saw and heard today had truly shocked him. It also made him understand that Jasper’s level had long surpassed his imaginations.
Patting Vita’s shoulder with his large hand, John said, “Don’t think about it too much. Jasper has the rare trait of someone who remembers his roots. Now that I think closely about it, excluding the brief times when we helped him at the very beginning, he’s been helping us the whole time after that, right?”
“From an ordinary bank president of the Faith Country subbranch, I’ve become the vice president of the Agricultural Bank’s Southeast Province branch. Your achievements are even better. From a normal office manager to Waterhoof City branch’s second in command.
“While we did get promoted thanks to our achievements and business capabilities, there are also tons of people better experienced, from better families, and more capable than we are. Yet, out of all of them, we’re the ones that got promoted.”
“All because the higher ups value our relationship with Jasper. Furthermore, Jasper’s always helped us when it came to bank business.”
“He’s a worthy friend to make, and we shouldn’t feel uncomfortable about the huge gap between us. If he doesn’t mind it, then who are we to care?”
Vita nodded in understanding and agreed, “You’re right. I was just lamenting… But John, I had a thought.”
“What is it?” John asked curiously.
“I want to leave the banking system to pursue politics!” Vita replied seriously.
John’s expression changed. He knew that what happened tonight had changed Vita’s life plan, so he replied solemnly, “This is a huge decision. Come on, let’s go to your home and talk about this seriously.”
“Alright. I’ll have my wife make a few dishes and we can talk about it. We can ask Jasper what he thinks later on. Everything should go much smoother with his support.”
***
As he sat in the car, Jasper had no idea that tonight’s incident had changed Vita’s life. After all, the man was currently busy on a call with Jake.
“Mr. Laine, from how the current situation looks, I can confirm that there’s someone, or a group of people, who has their eyes on our movements. They’re also targeting us, causing us to lose a lot of money.”
“According to our original predictions, our current orders might go against the market trend, but we shouldn’t lose more than 160 million. But as of this moment, we’ve already lost 220 million!”
“As we increase the amount of our investments, our losses will also only continue to grow since they’re actively targeting us.”
“According to our finance guys, we might lose an extra 400 million after we’ve fully opened all the positions, amounting to a total loss of 1.04 billion.”
“Does that mean this opponent’s appearance will cost our losses to increase by 70%?” Jasper asked calmly.
The original budget estimated a loss of 600 to 700 million by the time the incident occurred. This was an amount that Jasper and Jake had calculated together. However, the 600 million had suddenly become 1 billion. This additional 400 million loss was not a small amount in comparison to the original 600 million.
“Yes,” Jake replied clearly.
After a slight hesitation, Jasper rolled the windows down so that the icy wind could blow away the scent of alcohol around Jasper and clear his mind a bit.
“From your previous description, you don’t know whether this is one person or a group of people targeting us, let alone who this entity is, correct?”
Jake felt slightly embarrassed when he heard Jasper’s question.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Laine. The opponent is very crafty and they’re only targeting us. They’re hiding within the market and we’re still in the process of eliminating suspects now. All I can say is that the opponent came prepared, and that we’re not capable enough.”
“Since they’re intentionally targeting us, then they must’ve come prepared. There’s no point in being calc ulative over your incompetence now either. Follow the original plan. A loss of 400 million is nothing in comparison to the profit we’ll make in the future, but you have to find out who this group of people are as soon as possible.”
“Otherwise, they might cause us quite a bit of trouble during the last mile of our plan.”
Jake immediately became stern and replied, “Yes, Mr. Laine. I’ll do my best.”
“Go ahead, then. Contact me again if there’s more news.”
Jasper’s expression was solemn when he ended the call. While he did not seem like he had much of a choice, using this opening to involve Lord Alvarado was the correct decision.
The situation did not look good now, and someone had already started to target him.
However, Jasper thought about the earth shattering incident that was about to happen and he understood that this group of people would surely set their eyes on him during the chaos.
While Jasper was confident of his victory, he was not arrogant enough to believe himself peerless.
God did not exist in the financial market. Not to mention, Jasper was trying to profit off the entire western capitalist market this time.
It would be a waste of Lord Alvarado’s power if Jasper did not ask for the former’s help.
Not only was Jasper going to ask for their help, but he would do it blatantly and broadcast it loudly.
Thinking of this, Jasper pulled out the little prince’s name card and looked at it with intrigue.
He had asked the help of one Lord Alvarado, and he would ask the help of another little prince.
Perhaps the dinner with the little prince that he had casually brought tip was going to become reality.
