1929 I am a chaebol in the United States

A month later, Lu Chen and Fu Mingzhuo finally arrived at the Port of Hamburg in Germany following the cargo ship. Lu Chen remembered that at that time in Germany, the mark had depreciated greatly. At that time, foreign currencies such as the US dollar were very popular in Germany.

So as soon as Lu Chen got off the ship, he went to a bank to exchange the silver dollars and gold he had with him for US dollars. Then Lu Chen rented a large warehouse at the dock and stored all the cloth he had brought with him in this warehouse.

After doing all this, Lu Chen took Fu Mingzhuo for a stroll in the Port of Hamburg.

While shopping, Lu Chen seemed to have forgotten that he was a merchant selling cloth. He walked through the stalls in the market like a tourist.

Seeing Lu Chen's relaxed look, Fu Mingzhuo was puzzled. His factory was about to close down, and you were still strolling leisurely here. Could it be that you had already found a client?

So Fu Mingzhuo asked:

"Boss, you're strolling around the street so leisurely, have you already found a buyer?"

Lu Chen looked at Fu Mingzhuo in surprise. He didn't know why Fu Mingzhuo had such an idea. He said in confusion:

"Manager Fu, you are joking. This is my first time in Germany and I don't know anyone here. How can I contact the buyer in advance?"

Fu Mingzhuo was stunned when he heard Lu Chen say that, and he couldn't help but get anxious. He cursed in his heart, this Lu Chen is a second-generation rich kid, how can I trust him? No, I still have to find a market myself. Otherwise, the factory will really go bankrupt.

Fu Mingzhuo quickly said to Lu Chen, "Boss, you should go shopping by yourself. I will contact my former classmates first to see if I can find some sales channels from them."

Lu Chen's original plan was to learn about the current prices in Germany. He took Fu Mingzhuo out shopping because Fu Mingzhuo knew German and could help him communicate with some merchants.

But now Fu Mingzhuo took the initiative to go out and find sales channels. This attitude touched him deeply. He certainly couldn't discourage Fu Mingzhuo's enthusiasm. So he said:

"Since Manager Fu is so thoughtful, then okay, Manager Fu, you can go to your classmate first."

After Fu Mingzhuo left, Lu Chen continued to wander around the trading market in Hamburg Port alone.

After walking around, Lu Chen found that without Fu Mingzhuo, he was like a deaf person. Although there were many people talking here, he couldn't understand what they were saying.

But after this round, he did not gain nothing. He found that the things to buy here were very complete, and there was no shortage of supplies at all.

But at the same time, he found that there were too few people buying things in the market. This made Lu Chen very confused. Why were there so few people buying things in the market?

Originally, Lu Chen wanted to find someone to find out more, but he didn't speak German, which made him very depressed.

So Lu Chen found a pub on the street, walked into the pub, came to the front desk, and said to the waiter:

"Give me a beer, please."

The waiter looked at Lu Chen in confusion, not understanding what this man was talking about.

Seeing that the waiter did not respond, Lu Chen thought that the waiter looked down on him, so he took out a ten-dollar bill from his pocket and stood at the front desk. Then he said loudly in English:

“please give me a beer”

But the waiter remained indifferent. Lu Chen then realized that the waiter probably didn't understand what he was saying.

Lu Chen was a little anxious, and gestured and drew at the waiter. At this moment, a sentence in English came from behind Lu Chen.

"Do you need help?"

Hearing someone speak English, Lu Chen looked over quickly. He saw a man wearing a worn military uniform and a full beard. Lu Chen frowned and asked:

"Do you know English?"

The man said, "I've been to England and stayed there for a while."

Lu Chen nodded and said to the man, "Then please tell the waiter that I want a beer."

The man nodded and turned to talk to the waiter. After a while, the waiter took a glass of beer and handed it to Lu Chen.

When the man saw the beer in Lu Chen's hand, he couldn't help but swallow a few mouthfuls of saliva.

Seeing the man's appearance, Lu Chen couldn't help but think of some videos from later generations. The videos said that Germans couldn't resist the temptation of a glass of beer. If not, then have two glasses.

Lu Chen thought to himself that now that Fu Mingzhuo was not around, he was lacking a translator. This man happened to speak English, so why not ask him to be his translator?

With this idea in mind, Lu Chen immediately started chatting with the man:

"Hello, my name is Lu Chen. May I know your name, sir?"

The man's eyes were fixed on the beer in Lu Chen's hand. When he heard Lu Chen speak, he subconsciously said, "Hello, my name is William."

Lu Chen saw that the man named William was staring at his beer. After thinking for a while, he handed his beer over.

William was stunned for a moment when he saw the beer in front of him, then looked at Lu Chen with some confusion.

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Mr. William, do you mind if I buy you a drink?"

William certainly didn't mind. He took the beer and said, "Thank you, sir."

Lu Chen pointed at the beer in William's hand and motioned to the waiter to bring another glass. This time the waiter understood what Lu Chen meant and handed Lu Chen another glass of beer.

Lu Chen handed the ten-dollar bill he had taken out to the waiter, indicating that it was for his and William's drinks. After the waiter took the dollar, he handed it back and said something to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen looked at the waiter with a puzzled look on his face, and William beside him said quickly:

"He's saying you gave me too much money. He doesn't have enough change to give you."

Lu Chen smiled at the waiter and said:

"Keep this money with you first, and we'll settle the bill for the wine when we leave."

After William translated Lu Chen's words, the waiter took the money.

After William finished translating, he looked at Lu Chen with curiosity, and asked, "Friend, may I ask how you are doing?"

When Lu Chen heard people say that he was a small person, he couldn't help but frown. With his height of 1.8 meters, there must be a big difference between him and the average height of 1.5 meters.

He quickly shook his head and said, "I am not a commoner, I am a genuine Chinese."

William looked at Lu Chen in surprise and said, "You are actually Chinese. Didn't the newspaper say that you all have braids? Why don't you have one?"

Lu Chen said with a dark face: "These are all rumors. We have established a new country now and no longer keep the whip."

William suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. Then what are you doing in Germany, Mr. Lu?"

Lu Chen pretended to be annoyed and said, "Hey! I originally wanted to come here to do business, but... Hey!"

William said with a look of understanding, sympathizing with Lu Chen:

"Hey!"

"Mr. Lu, it is a wrong choice for you to come to Germany to do business now. The unemployment rate in Germany is very high now, and there are few rich people. Even fewer people go shopping."

Lu Chen showed a disappointed expression and said, "Hey! This time I spent all my assets to buy a batch of high-quality cloth to sell. It seems that I will definitely go bankrupt this time."

Hearing Lu Chen say this, William felt even more sympathetic. William said with some regret: "It's a pity, Mr. Lu, if you can accept the exchange, your things will be easier to sell. It's a pity that you will not agree to this transaction method."

Lu Chen's eyes lit up when he heard this. He acted like he had grasped a life-saving straw and quickly said to William, "Mr. William, what did you say? You can exchange things. I don't know where I can do this kind of business. As long as my cloth can be sold, I will agree even if it means exchanging for steel."

William thought for a moment and said, “This place is right next to it. I can take you there later.”

Lu Chen said excitedly: "Mr. William, I don't know how to thank you. I want to ask, where can I exchange something?"

William smiled and said, "You can exchange anything, as long as someone likes your things."

Lu Chen thought about it and thought that this market should be a bulk market. He had so many pieces of cloth that he didn't know when he would be able to trade them all. Lu Chen said to William:

"Mr. William, thank you so much. I have an idea, but I want to know what you do for a living first."

William said indifferently: "It's all small things. The beer you bought me is the best thank you for me. As for what I do, oh! It's really embarrassing to say it. I was a soldier, but I was really laid off."

Lu Chen's eyes lit up when he heard this. It was like a dream come true. Lu Chen said sincerely:

"Mr. William, it's great that you are a soldier."

"Mr. William, I'll tell you the truth. I want to hire you to help me sell this batch of goods. If you can exchange all of this batch of goods for weapons, I will pay you 500 US dollars in one lump sum. How about it?"

William thought for a moment and asked, "How much cloth do you have?"

Lu Chen raised two fingers and said, "I have 2 rolls of cloth. All of them are first-class cloth."

William opened his mouth in shock and stammered, "Twenty thousand pieces of cloth, how long will it take to change it? And..."

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Don't worry, if it's a matter of money, we can still talk about it. If this is successful, I will hire you, Mr. William, for a long time."

William originally thought that $500 was already very high, but after hearing Lu Chen's offer, William was even more tempted. He nodded quickly and said:

"Boss, don't worry. I will do my best to help you exchange all these cloths for weapons. I just don't know what kind of weapons you need. If you want heavy weapons, I may not be able to get them."

Lu Chen said quickly: "We don't need any heavy weapons. We only need a Mauser rifle and a Maxim heavy machine gun."

William said, "If that's all you need, I can get it for you, sir."

Lu Chen took out $100 from his pocket and handed it to William, saying, "I'm giving you this money in advance. I'll take you to my warehouse now."

After saying that, Lu Chen stood up and took William out of the pub and walked towards the warehouse he rented.

After taking William to the warehouse and looking at his goods, Lu Chen took a few pieces of cloth and gave them to William. After William took the cloth, he left the warehouse excitedly.

Seeing William leave, Lu Chen was a little excited. With the Germans' credibility, Lu Chen was not worried that William would cheat him. He was only concerned about how many weapons William could get.

At night, Fu Mingzhuo returned to the warehouse with a sad face. When he saw Lu Chen, he said to him dejectedly, "Boss, I'm sorry, none of my classmates can help."

Lu Chen consoled him: "Manager Fu, you have done a great job. Sit down and take a rest first."

Lu Chen took out some bread he had bought and handed it to Fu Mingzhuo, saying, "Come and have something to eat."

Fu Mingzhuo took the bread and ate it while saying, "Boss, the economy in Germany is in chaos right now. And too many people here are unemployed. We may have come to the wrong place."

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Manager Fu, don't worry. I believe that we will find a way out. We will sell the goods."

After dinner, Lu Chen and Fu Mingzhuo stayed in the warehouse for the night.

The next morning, Fu Mingzhuo got up and left. When he left, he said to Lu Chen, "Boss, I'm going out to see if there is any way to sell our batch of fabrics."

Lu Chen did not get up with Fu Mingzhuo. It was not until the sun was high in the sky that Lu Chen slowly got up. At noon, William brought hundreds of people to the warehouse.

William came to Lu Chen and said:

"Boss, these people are my former comrades-in-arms. They are active military personnel. They are all willing to exchange fabrics."

Lu Chen said to William with a happy face: "William, you are amazing. You brought so many people in one day."

After that, Lu Chen called the people into the warehouse and looked at the goods. These people were very satisfied with the fabrics. They began to discuss the price with Lu Chen.

Customer 1: "Boss, your fabric is really good. My family needs to make new clothes. Please tell me how to change it."

Lu Chen thought for a moment and said, "I'll make you an offer. If you're not satisfied, we can talk."

Seeing that these people agreed, Lu Chen said with a try-it attitude: "One rifle for one piece of cloth, one Maxim heavy machine gun for ten pieces of cloth. What do you think?"

After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement, took out the guns on their backs, handed them to Lu Chen, and then went to the warehouse to get cloth.

Lu Chen felt a little regretful, wondering if he had quoted a low price. He would ask William about it later.

Soon hundreds of people changed their cloth and left.

Lu Chen and William counted and found that they had exchanged more than 400 pieces of cloth in total. Lu Chen felt pretty good.

After sorting everything out, Lu Chen asked William, "William, is the price I offered too low?"

William smiled and said, "It's hard to say, but it is indeed very cheap for them. They are all active military personnel, and their weapons are issued for free. Moreover, the military is very lax now, and they only need to report to receive new weapons."

Lu Chen suddenly understood and said, "So that's how it is."

After the work was done, William immediately continued to contact new clients.

Lu Chen found some large wooden boxes, packed the rifles he had exchanged today, and then went out for a stroll.

In the following days, William would bring dozens or hundreds of people to exchange cloth every day, but Fu Mingzhuo had not been seen for the past few days.

All of this made Lu Chen wonder if something had happened to Fu Mingzhuo.

Ten days later, when Lu Chen had sold more than 3,000 pieces of cloth, Fu Mingzhuo returned to the warehouse with a tired look on his face.

He said to Lu Chen, "Boss, it's been ten days, and I still haven't found anyone to buy our fabric."

Lu Chen felt a little distressed when he saw Fu Mingzhuo's appearance. What did this kid do outside? Why did he look so pale? Lu Chen said quickly, "Manager Fu, you should take a rest first. We will talk about the cloth tomorrow."

Fu Mingzhuo nodded, then fell asleep. Lu Chen sighed, "This is such a good employee. I'll have to give him more money when I get back."

Early the next morning, Lu Chen was awakened by Fu Mingzhuo's yelling.

Fu Mingzhuo saw Lu Chen wake up and yelled, "Lu Chen, how can you watch the warehouse? So much fabric has been stolen. You are not worthy of being the boss of Lu Corporation. You only know how to eat and drink all day long. You can't even watch a warehouse properly. What else can you do?"

"I feel so bad for the old Lu family. How could they give birth to someone like you? If you continue like this, the Lu family will be destroyed by you sooner or later..."

Lu Chen was so confused by the scolding that he also scolded: "Fu Mingzhuo, why are you so mad so early in the morning? You are so brave that you actually started to scold the boss. Who gave you the courage?"

Fu Mingzhuo pointed at the cloth in the warehouse and said, "Lu Chen, you are a jerk who is always causing trouble instead of helping others. Look for yourself, how much cloth has been stolen from the warehouse."

Lu Chen yelled at Fu Mingzhuo with an angry face, "Who the hell told you that the fabric was stolen? I sold all the missing fabric. Do you think everyone is like you? You went out for ten days and couldn't find a single customer. If I were you, I would be too ashamed to stay in the company any longer."

When Fu Mingzhuo heard Lu Chen say that he was the one who sold the fabrics, he looked at Lu Chen with some suspicion and said, "You said you sold the fabrics. Are you lying to me?"

Lu Chen said impatiently: "If you don't believe me, just stay here and watch. Someone will come to buy fabric at noon."

After saying this, Lu Chen no longer paid attention to Fu Mingzhuo who was in a daze, and lay down on the floor to sleep again.