America's Road to Wealth

Return to No. 1 Central Park South Avenue, in the large flat floor on the top two floors.

Abel was not surprised to see Lydia's figure.

"My dear, you are back."

In the living room, Amanda, who was talking to Lidya, suddenly came up to her with a bright smile.

It was obvious that she was limping a little when she walked.

He looked badly traumatized.

"I'm back. Good evening, honey. Oh, and good evening, Lydia."

Abel responded with a smile.

Lydia quickly stood up and said hello to Abel with a smile.

"Eaten dinner yet?"

"No, I want to have dinner with you tonight."

"That's great." Amanda said happily:

“I asked the chef to prepare tacos, korachi, smoked grilled lamb ribs, pulled pork, and your favorite, the chargrilled tomahawk steak!!”

The things Miss Hester asked the chef to prepare all have obvious Texas characteristics.

They can all be considered foods that most people in the southern United States love.

"Sounds great."

A pleasant dinner began.

After dinner, Abel went to take a shower to wash away the smell of dust and smoke from his body.

In the cloakroom, I found a slim-fitting T-shirt, a black casual suit, and a pair of leather shoes.

I opened the watch cabinet and looked at it. There were more than twenty expensive watches inside.

Under the right lighting, these beautiful and expensive watches bloom with beautiful brilliance.

Just their value alone adds up to millions of dollars.

And Abel had more than a dozen such table cabinets.

Basically, wherever Abel has a "girlfriend" living for a long time, the family housekeeper will arrange a watch cabinet like this.

Some of these watches are new watches purchased by the family office that David manages when luxury watch brands release new products.

They are usually limited editions, or the most expensive flagship models.

Some are his women, and the gifts they buy for him are not cheap.

What Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, Girard-Perregaux, Blancpain...

These are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. In countless Shenhao novels, the male protagonists need to use expensive watches when pretending to be sexy.

To him, they are no different from ordinary watches that cost dozens or hundreds of dollars on the street.

Smith's family office spends almost $20 million on this every year.

But the money is worth spending.

It's not that buying these watches can add a bit of class to Abel.

For his sake, if he is willing to wear it, it can in turn increase the influence of luxury brands.

Rather than those luxury goods, it helps him add style.

The reason why it is worth it is because these luxury watches generally have the potential to increase in value.

If you buy it and keep it for a few years, when you sell it, it will not depreciate but become more expensive.

This can also be regarded as an investment.

Of course, the time has come to sell watches.

Maybe this little bit of added value won't do much.

Glancing at the watch cabinet, I didn't see anything pleasing to my eye. Abel didn't take any.

Looking at the handsome guy in the mirror, Abel picked up a comb from the cabinet, straightened his hair, smiled with satisfaction, turned around and left the cloakroom.

In the living room, the two cousins ​​saw Abel dressed casually.

Amanda had a satisfied and happy expression on her face.

Lydia looked a little straight-eyed.

Men will like beautiful women, and their attention and attention will be taken away by the appearance of beautiful women.

So do women.

When a handsome guy appears in front of them, they will behave similarly to men.

It's just the innate physiology, coupled with the acquired influence of human society on the sexes.

Most women behave more tactfully in this regard.

Abel smiled at the two girls, but had no intention of joining them.

He never relies on verbal skills to pick up girls.

He doesn't need to be like ordinary men who indirectly please the girl's sisters, best friends, etc. in order to make his girlfriend happy.

Abel always relied on two things to pick up girls.

The term "face" refers to his face and figure.

The second is money, and in the capital societies of Europe and the United States, because of the power that money brings.

Two secrets make him always successful.

After greeting the two of them, I saw their sticky eyes.

Abel turned around and went to the study to deal with things.

Watching Abel's tall and strong figure disappear around the corner of the living room corridor.

Amanda withdrew her infatuated gaze and looked at her cousin.

She found Lydia looking at her.

"What's wrong? There's something wrong with my makeup?"

"No." Lydia, who has stronger self-control and has been cautious since childhood, said softly:

"Well, I just feel that you are too involved in this relationship, and your status is too unequal."

Amanda was stunned, and quickly understood what Lydia meant.

She gritted her teeth. After many years of education from a wealthy family, Amanda still had a sense of shame in related matters.

She is not like Ikana and Paris, she is truly from a top wealthy family.

Not like those Hollywood girls, sometimes they can ignore shame as nothing.

Even if there are thousands of reasons, it is not honorable to be someone's mistress.

"I know what you mean. Lydia, I know what you're talking about."

"But...hey..." Amanda gave a rare, small sigh:

"But I can't get away. If I can't get him, I can't even sleep well. After getting him, I want him to have more of me in his heart. No matter what the reason, I can't get away, you Understand, this is me, Lydia."

Lydia nodded silently.

Lydia understood what her cousin meant.

Lydia knew that it was impossible to say how much her cousin loved Abel and how deeply she loved him.

The two of them didn't have many opportunities to come into contact with each other, and they didn't even chat much.

The shared experience between the two parties is almost nothing.

Without these foundations, where can deep love come from?

The reason why Amanda became like this.

Both she and Lydia knew that the main reason was Amanda's character.

Amanda, who has been favored by the family elders since she was a child, has always found it easy to get whatever she wants.

Because she has such a mother, Lydia, who is also a cousin, does not receive such treatment.

So compared to Amanda, Lydia is much more normal in every aspect of her personality.

In parallel time and space, Amanda was not married until Abel was reborn.

At that time, Lydia was already married and had children.

Because she was so favored, Amanda later developed the character of getting what she wanted.

Coupled with the genes of the Hearst family, it is really a bit crazy.

Having been unable to ask for Abel for a long time made Amanda even more confused in this regard.

Plus some psychological and practical, such as social sunk costs.

In the end, Amanda became what she is now.

"Then what are you thinking now? You know, he is engaged to Laura Shrub. With his background, it is impossible for him to fall out with her."

Lydia said softly.

They are all from Texas, and you are from New York. It is not that easy to get to the top.

Regional concepts are more serious in the United States than in China.

"Take it one step at a time. Anyway, I am very happy and satisfied now." Amanda said: "And..."

She prolonged her voice, looked at Lidya with her beautiful green eyes, and smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly.

"And don't think that I am just a love brain and don't know what my family thinks."

"Whether it's my mother, Uncle William or Uncle John. I think... what I look like now must be something these elders are happy to see!"

Lydia was silent again.

Amanda was right.

He has this kind of relationship with the core figure of a huge consortium.

This sounds a bit unpleasant to the entire Hearst family, but it is actually something the family likes to hear.

Even if it is to be the mistress of the other party.

Because this is a bond, a bond to communicate with each other when needed.

Still very stable.

Just a daughter.

Do you really think that the Hearst family takes it seriously enough to fall out with someone like Abel Smith?

In European and American culture, the worship of the strong is much more serious than in Eastern culture.

When the other party is strong enough, the degree of obedience of Westerners is unimaginable to Easterners.

For example, when France was in the age of the Sun King.

The Sun King spoke throughout France.

At that time, most of the French male nobles in the Paris court felt honored that their wives had an affair with the Sun King...

And these male aristocrats themselves had to compete for the opportunity to provide morning wake-up services for Louis Dieudonné Bourbon every morning.

Sometimes even aristocratic couples would serve in the Palace of Versailles...

This is a very absurd existence in the ancient oriental culture that pays attention to ethics.

In Europe at that time, this kind of thing was very common and was imitated by other European monarchs.

The mistress/human culture behind the West most likely originated from this.

Nowadays, technology has advanced.

But this aspect of culture has generally not changed much in Europe and the United States.

It's just a thick coat.

"Okay." Lidya thought a lot, and finally said softly:

"No matter what happens, I will accompany you. If you need my help, as long as I can do it, I will not refuse."

Amanda smiled and hugged her cousin, "Lydia, I love you, my good sister!"

Then that night, Amanda almost couldn't help it and wanted to call Lydia to come in to help.

That was when she was almost overwhelmed by Abel's favor.

Fortunately, he didn't shout out after all.

Because at that time, she was already talking nonsense.

If she had really shouted out at that time, someone would have really dared to bring Lydia in.

The next morning.

Abel put on a sports T-shirt, sports trousers, and running shoes. After taking a look at the sleeping Amanda, he left the house and met the four King Kongs who were also wearing sports equipment in the lobby downstairs of the apartment.

Abel moved his strong body as he walked, attracting the attention of some women on the street from time to time.

Across the street, you can see the dense woods. The place where Abel does his morning exercises is Central Park as always.

Central Park is located in the center of Manhattan, sandwiched between 5th Avenue and 8th Avenue, 59th Street and 110th Street. It is a rectangular green space in the center of the city.

Its large area and rich flora and fauna make it difficult to imagine that it exists in such a commercialized international metropolis.

Looking at the map, Central Park is a neat square shape, occupying one-eighth of the entire Manhattan.

Apart from a small park castle, there is not a single commercial or civil building in the park.

Towering trees, green lawns, and lakes make Central Park a legend in bustling New York.

In late February in New York, the weather starts to get warmer.

The early morning air was really fresh. Abel started jogging, protected by a group of bodyguards, either overt or covert.

He crossed Central Park West and West Trail, followed the trail, and reached Strawberry Fields.

To the north, follow any trail on West Trail, then turn right to cross over to 79th Street.

Continue east, pass the intersection of the cross side of 79th Street and the East Trail, and then take the South Trail to Wenchi.

Follow the trail west across the East Trail and into Lob Lake Boat Landing.

Walk south through the brick tunnel at the fountain, pass the side of 72nd Street below, and enter the boulevard.

All the scenery passing by was very familiar to Abel.

Suddenly, Edward, who was running beside him, said softly to the boss:

"BOSS, look over there. It looks like Miss Peggy Morgenthau."

Hearing this, Abel looked over.

He saw on a path not far away the daughter of the Morgenthal family, a famous judicial family and political family in New York, and one of his former "scandalous girlfriends".

Peggy Morgenthau, wearing a tight-fitting casual running suit, is running here.

His first reaction was not to call Peggy to stop, but to look at Edward.

The latter immediately knew what Abel meant, thought about it and said softly:

"Miss Morgenthau, since the end of last year, she has been running basically every day."

Abel nodded.

For safety reasons, Rock Security is placed at some of the public places where Abel often appears.

Even if Abel does not show up, the company will arrange for some staff to keep an eye on it all year round to check for any signs of abnormality.

Abel often comes to Central Park.

There are rock security staff here every day to monitor the area.

It is quite normal to know the whereabouts of Peggy Morgenthau.

"Let's go. Let's go back."

Abel did not go up to meet Peggy Morgenthau as Edward thought.

Instead, he turned around and ran back, leaving Central Park directly.

In the distance, Peggy could not help but stop as a large number of people suddenly disappeared from the runway ahead of her.

Looking ahead, she sighed.

"Why--"

Somewhat disappointed.

Ten o'clock in the morning.

Smith Tower.

"If Smith Media wants to go public, the conditions are very sufficient."

In Abel's office, David Mellon and several senior executives from Smith Capital were reporting to Abel.

"Smith Media can directly apply for re-listing with the qualifications of MGM Films."

“The procedures for this are very simple.”

"I also believe that the New York Stock Exchange will be very happy to see Smith Media listed!"

"If Richard Grasso knew about this, I believe he would party for three days in a row!!"

Richard Grasso is the current chairman of the New York Stock Exchange.

The New York Stock Exchange manages the most valuable stock market on the planet.

"Having said that." After listening to David's somewhat excited story, Abel said with a smile, "As a shareholder of more than 200 companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, I only know now that if a company wants to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, it needs What conditions."

As a world-wide securities trading venue, the New York Stock Exchange also accepts foreign companies to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but its listing conditions are more stringent than those of domestic companies in the United States.

Smith Media is a standard American company, and its listing requirements are much more relaxed.

"That's it." Abel ordered: "Help me make an appointment with Richard Grasso and tell him the news."

"As you command, my king!!" David stood up suddenly and said excitedly.

Taking Smith Media public was not a whim for Abel.

This is one of the plans he has been planning for a long time.

Media, finance, energy, and industry are the four major industries that Abel has always planned for himself.

The media is the mouthpiece, finance is the weapon of plunder and deterrence, and energy and industry are the core elements of a strong Smith giant.

There is another industry that is used to maintain the cornerstone of the bottom line.

That is the sector with Pacific Supermarkets as the core and focusing on supermarkets, logistics industry and agriculture.

Among the five major industries, Abel paid most attention to the latter three.

They are the main reasons why the first two can work and be effective.

Without the strength of American industry, energy, and agriculture, there would be no strength in American media and finance.

This is true for the country, and so is the consortium.

Why are Rockefeller and Morgan so powerful?

Do they rely on finance?

Yes, but finance is just their external means.

The real core of the Rockefeller family is actually oil.

The earliest oil monopoly organization was Rockefeller's Seven Oil Sisters.

It is true that the Morgen family's later main businesses were insurance and banking.

But the industries they started were actually canals, steamships and railroads.

In the Gilded Age of the United States at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the shipping and railroad industries were the economic lifeblood of the United States in that era of crazy expansion.

It can be said that the status of oil is similar to that of oil in the petrodollar era in the late 20th century.

Both of these families laid the foundation for their fortunes in industry, and only began to transform after they had sufficient financial foundation.

Don't think that the main business of Rockefeller and Morgan is finance.

That's now.

Without the past foundation in shipping, railways and oil, there would be no Rockefeller and Morgan today.

In the same way, this is why the Oilers Group can only act as housekeepers and accountants in the United States.

Because they cannot control these core industries, the only ones they can control are finance and media.

And part of later the Internet, and part of medical care.

Therefore, in his own industry, Abel regards media and finance as the least important.

A talking pen and an abacus that plays with money.

No matter what, a gun that can kill people is not as important as a factory that can make guns.

Oh, and the energy to make the factory work.

In these business sectors, it is necessary to open a listing and let partners and friends share the profits.

Naturally, media and finance are the most suitable.

It’s not time for finance yet.

The one that went public was naturally the media.

David Mellon made a phone call.

In the afternoon.

Richard Grasso, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, went to Smith Tower himself.

The chairman of the New York Stock Exchange was willing to come over in person.

From this we can see how much the New York Stock Exchange attaches great importance to the listing of Smith Media.