The Rise Of A Billionaire 1943-Chapter 148 - 160: The Profitable Industry

What’s going on?

Even the next day, sitting in his office, Pierre’s brows were still tightly furrowed.

What happened last night?

He got into the wrong bed!

No, it was the wrong person lying in the bed.

This matter absolutely wasn’t my fault.

Heidi... why did that woman have to go into my room, and someone else was sleeping in her room?

That "someone else" wasn’t just anyone, but Lautrey, that ordinary girl from a regular family.

How did she end up in my house?

It all started in Bastogne.

Because he needed to keep in touch with New York via the Defense Supply Company’s radio, he was able to bypass all the schemes set up by the Americans, including a media campaign centered on Bastogne.

It was then that Lautrey, acting as a liaison, moved into the Li household. Since there were only two guest rooms, Heidi "generously" gave up her room and moved into the master bedroom.

Hmm, that woman still acts like the main wife even now. But if you really want to talk about it, it shouldn’t be her turn—it should be Stanah.

Originally, after the siege of Bastogne was lifted, Lautrey planned to leave New York, but Heidi persuaded her to stay for Christmas. In truth, she wanted to learn Chinese from Lautrey.

But who would have thought that on the very first night of the new year, such a farce would occur...

"That woman..."

With his brows tightly knit, the image of Lautrey’s face, full of shame and anger, kept appearing in Pierre’s mind.

She looked very attractive, but the anger in her eyes was impossible to hide. After all... sigh, that girl was sleeping so soundly at first.

She didn’t react until things had gone that far.

"Sigh..."

Once again, Pierre couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. How should he handle this?

Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

At that moment, the phone rang. He picked it up, but there was no sound on the other end.

The silence on the line made Pierre’s heart skip a beat. He spoke:

"Miss Lautrey?"

"It’s me."

Sure enough, it was Lautrey.

"Mr. Pierre, I’ve already returned to Washington. Someone else will be taking over my work from now on."

She’s leaving?

Just like that, waving her sleeve, not taking a single cloud with her?

Pierre hurriedly said,

"It was a misunderstanding. I mean, it was all a misunderstanding, you—"

Before he could finish, the call was cut off, leaving only the dial tone.

Just like that...

She just left?

Is that it?

When he put down the phone, Pierre stared at it. Instead of feeling relieved, his frown deepened.

Because this girl’s decisiveness far exceeded his expectations. Only now did he realize how little he actually knew about her.

He didn’t even know her Chinese name.

...

Life is always full of little twists and turns. The accident on New Year’s Eve was just a small ripple in his life. After returning to New York, Pierre was quickly caught up in company affairs.

Although he had been communicating via telegram, after returning to New York, Pierre still needed to personally check on the operations of his businesses.

From Carl Metals Company to KJT Chemical Industries, then to Leap Laboratories, the Aerial Refueling Company, the airline, and the shipping company—he needed to look into all of them.

Coincidentally, Alberto, who was in charge of the shipping company, was also in New York. Since the shipping company’s main business was now on the Pacific coast of the Americas, Alberto had moved from Tunisia to New York.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, and once the secretary had brought them coffee and left the office, Alberto couldn’t wait to speak up:

"Boss, you’re finally back. If you hadn’t returned soon, I was about to go looking for you."

Pierre was taken aback. What’s going on?

Did something happen with the shipping company?

"What’s wrong?"

"You know, according to our agreement with the Americans, they’re supposed to deliver fifty Liberty ships to us under the Lend-Lease Act. Although the first batch of ten has been delivered, the rest have been delayed. So far, only eighteen have arrived—thirty-two are still outstanding. Boss, what’s being delayed isn’t just ships, it’s the company’s profits! Every day of delay means an immeasurable loss for us!"

Talking about the company’s losses, Alberto’s heart ached.

Do you know how lucrative the South American shipping routes are right now?

Shipping fees are basically equal to the cost of a ship!

A Liberty ship costs $2 million to build, but the freight from Chile to the U.S. West Coast is over $2.3 million—enough profit to build another Liberty ship.

The profits are so high because, before the European war, shipping in South America was monopolized by British and American companies. After the war broke out, those companies pulled their ships back home, leading to a severe shortage of merchant vessels in South America and elsewhere. The lack of shipping capacity caused freight rates to skyrocket.

For years, many goods in South American countries piled up at ports and rotted due to insufficient shipping capacity. Pierre’s shipping company happened to enter the South American market at just the right time, and that’s how they made a fortune...

A Pot Full and a Bowl Overflowing

Pierre’s merchant fleet has brought the company profits reaching nine figures in just the past six months.

The failure to deliver the 32 Liberty ships on time is undoubtedly a loss for the company!

"Now that the situation in Europe is becoming increasingly clear, once the war ends and sea routes are safe, everyone will rush to buy merchant ships. This will inevitably drive up ship prices and drive down freight rates. By then, our profits will definitely drop sharply. To ensure our profits, we must urge the Americans to deliver the ships as soon as possible."

Upon hearing that it was the Americans who failed to deliver the ships on time, Pierre nodded and smiled indifferently:

"I’ll be making a trip to Washington soon to meet with the top officials in person. This matter should be easy to resolve."

This is hardly even a problem! Roosevelt will soon be sworn in, and Truman will become Vice President. With the Vice President stepping in, a matter of a few dozen ships is hardly an issue at all.

America may seem different from other places, seemingly lacking in personal connections, but in reality, it’s no different—relationships are everywhere.

"Alberto, how many ships do we have now?"

"At present, we have a total of 82 cargo ships, amounting to 413,000 tons. Of these, 64 ships totaling 287,000 tons are old vessels purchased from Italy, and there are 18 Liberty ships, totaling 126,000 tons. Currently, apart from 8 ships used on the India and North Africa routes, all other merchant ships are operating on the South American-Pacific routes. Right now, the Chile-to-North America route is the safest and most profitable in the world. The company’s monthly profit now exceeds $15 million!"

When it came to the company’s profits, and thinking of his own generous salary compared to the dire situation of friends and family back in Italy, Mr. Alberto couldn’t help but sigh. If not for a stroke of luck—his boss buying those rusting ships idling in the harbor and hiring him—perhaps his own family would now be struggling in hunger!

Thinking of this, he felt even more grateful to his boss, who truly was the benefactor who saved his family from misery!

It was precisely for this reason that he worked wholeheartedly for his boss—after all, not everyone gets such an opportunity.

"The profits are indeed substantial, but..."

A competent businessman is never satisfied with current profits, and Pierre was no exception. He said:

"We can’t be content with just transporting cargo. We need to look at the bigger picture—the entire market. Take Europe, for example. Right now, all European countries, including Italy, are suffering from severe shortages. Their demand for food is enormous, and South America was already a major exporter of grain and meat before the war. We could purchase supplies ourselves and ship them to Europe for sale."

"To Europe? What about the German submarines?"

Alberto asked in surprise.

"Germany is about to..."

Realizing he had almost let slip a historical secret, Pierre quickly changed the subject:

"Germany will surrender soon. Under the powerful Allied offensive, the Germans can’t hold out much longer. After the war in Europe ends, the most valuable commodities on the continent will be daily necessities, especially food. During the war, European merchant fleets suffered heavy losses. We must make full use of our shipping capacity and multinational information advantages to allocate and distribute scarce resources among various countries as needed. This way, our profits will be even greater."

With the end of the war, Europe would enter the period of postwar reconstruction. In this process, what is the most important thing? 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Suddenly, Pierre paused and stopped speaking, instead furrowing his brow in thought...