Wow! My wife is beautiful and obedient, everyone envies her!

Research and development is an expensive endeavor.

If the money spent on research yields results, then the money spent will definitely be recovered. But if no results are found, the money spent will never be recovered.

Dunlop's knowledge of Croford was limited to intelligence gathered by his informants; he had not even met Croford in person yet.

But he wasn't making impulsive investments.

According to intelligence gathered by informants, Croft has been involved in many new mechanical products in Juecheng since last year. Moreover, Croft is not just a figurehead; he can be considered the chief designer of the products and has put the greatest effort into their implementation.

For this reason, Dunlop believed that Croft's proposed telephone was definitely feasible.

This unconditional trust only lasted until Noah said that his investment might be lost entirely.

Is it really possible to transmit sound a kilometer or even further?

Noah seized the moment of his hesitation and pressed his advantage: "Mr. Dunlop, I already know what the Leopold family is planning. Even if you refuse to cooperate with me today, I will have the researchers and mechanics sponsored by the Davis family work together to research telephones."

"The Davis family sponsors mechanics, scientists, and inventors of all sizes throughout the North Continent. If I concentrate all my efforts, do you think you'll finish it first, or will we?"

Upon hearing this, Dunlop wavered once again.

He knew exactly how many resources the Davis family, known to outsiders as the Kings of the North, had amassed in the North. With their financial and human resources, they might actually be able to accomplish it before he could.

Seeing that he was wavering again, Noah continued, "Mr. Dunlop, I only gave you this opportunity to cooperate because you were the one who researched the telephone first. Are you going to be ungrateful and refuse?"

Hearing this arrogant tone, Dunlop felt a surge of anger and wanted to teach Noah a lesson. However, seeing the other party's haughty arrogance and recalling his previous words, he said with a mixture of anger and helplessness, "If you hadn't found out, would you be here talking to me about cooperation?"

"So?" Noah raised an eyebrow. "A collaboration?"

"I'll have my assistant draft the contract in three days, and then we'll discuss it further!"

As he spoke, Dunlop stood up angrily.

He no longer wanted to sit there and say another word to Noah.

Unexpectedly, Noah called out again, "Mr. Dunlop, don't rush, I have another collaboration I want to offer you."

"Who wants your bullshit cooperation?!" Dunlop was so angry that veins bulged on his forehead.

"Should we put the Leopold family's gas through the Davis family's gas company? I'll only take a 30% commission."

The gas issue was better left unmentioned, because mentioning it made Dunlop clench his fists in anger!

Noah reversed the gas price, betraying three companies and causing them to be unable to sell their gas. Now, apart from their own supply, they have no idea how to deal with the excess gas.

The person who started this has the nerve to talk to him about cooperation and even want to charge him a 30% handling fee?!

Dunlop felt that continuing to talk to Noah would only make him furious, so he left without saying a word.

Seeing that he had really walked away, Kyle whispered in Noah's ear, "Master, if Mr. Dunlop doesn't cooperate with us, are we really going to have to do the research ourselves?"

“If he doesn’t cooperate, I’ll scare him into cooperating with us,” Noah said.

The Davis family did indeed sponsor many researchers, but they required these people to research more advanced weaponry.

To paraphrase the first head of the Davis family, as long as you have a gun, you can take back anything.

Therefore, the Davis family researchers only studied and developed guns and bullets.

Asking weapons researchers to make telephones is pointless; without any data or knowledge, even the most brilliant scientists would be completely baffled and wouldn't know what to do.

Therefore, when Noah negotiated a collaboration with Dunlop, he essentially got something for nothing.

"Master, was that gas just to scare him?" Kyle asked again.

Noah said, "Don't scare him. If his natural gas is left out for two more months, he'll start to panic."

Kyle chuckled to himself, "Indeed."

"Let's go home. I made another fortune today. Now I can slack off and relax for the rest of the time."

Having gained the upper hand, Noah knew that even if Dunlop was still angry, he would bow his head and cooperate with him.

As the head of a large family, whoever it is, will prioritize the interests of the family.

An ordinary day passed by.

The restaurant will reopen tomorrow.

Qi Yuan arrived at the restaurant early in the morning. He prepared the ingredients for the dishes to be sold the next day and had the employees do one last training session.

It's only been a day since we last met.

Qi Yuan noticed that the employees had made great progress. The meat cutters were cutting meat much better, the beverage makers were making drinks that tasted just right, and the employees serving customers were also becoming more skilled at blanching meat.

This group of people almost froze to death on the street because they had no money. But at Qiyuan Restaurant, they were living a good life with warm beds to sleep in and meat to eat before they even started working.

Therefore, on the day Qi Yuan didn't come, they practiced diligently, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

Cutting meat isn't particularly difficult; as long as you master the techniques, you can easily do it.

And these people are not children; they have their own thinking abilities.

So, after just one day apart, one or two of them made rapid progress.

Seeing how quickly they were progressing, Qi Yuan felt relieved that the restaurant would open the next day.

The restaurant is opening tomorrow.

What Qi Yuan needs to do today is to prepare enough ingredients for tomorrow's business and get ready to open the store.

A new day dawned amidst anticipation.

Today is a nice day.

The sun rises.

There was no wind or snow.

The temperature has warmed up a bit.

Qi Yuan arrived at the restaurant early in the morning.

The staff have already put on their restaurant uniforms.

These employees used to work on construction sites. They were all muscular and strong, and although they were wearing restaurant uniforms, their large muscles made them look like thugs.

Qi Yuan couldn't help but worry that their actions might frighten the guests.

At nine o'clock, the newly made signboard for the restaurant arrived and was re-hung on the restaurant's main entrance.

In Juecheng, shops belonging to the four major families usually have their family crests engraved on their signs. This tells outsiders that the shop belongs to the family or is protected by the family.

However, the plaque of Qiyuan does not bear the Davis family crest.

When making the plaque, Noah asked Qi Yuan if he wanted one carved on it, but Qi Yuan declined.

Noah respected his wishes.

However, word had already been spread privately that the shop was under the protection of the Davis family.

With the signboard hung up, the restaurant officially opened.

The restaurant doors opened.

And this will be at 10 a.m.

Busy people are still at work, while those with free time have had breakfast less than an hour ago.

So, not a single customer came in for half an hour after the shop opened.