I was the Founding Father of the United States

Chapter 29 Love Story

It was evening.

Chen Wenbin did not stay at the manor or the school for meals, but instead rode back to Providence with his men.

He had promised Diana this morning that he would have dinner with her, and a man cannot easily break his promise.

When Chen Wenbin and his two companions returned to 76 White Street, the lights in the first-floor restaurant were already on, and Diana, Mary Betty, and the other two women were waiting for him.

"...Darling! You're back!"

Still basking in the glow of love, Diana nestled into the man's arms, tilted her head back to kiss him, and asked with a smile, "How was your day? I heard from the pastor that Mr. Franklin seemed quite angry?"

Chen Wenbin carried her to the dining table and sat her down, then said nonchalantly, "...That old guy wanted to embarrass me, so I played a trick on him. Don't worry, I'm confident."

Upon hearing this, Diana chuckled and said, "Mr. Franklin is one of the most famous people in North America, but based on my interactions with him, he is indeed the kind of person who doesn't care about formalities... However, we can't really ruin our relationship with him. I'll bring my own biscuit-making supplies to visit him tomorrow morning!"

He's old enough to be our grandfather; it's not impolite to visit him.

Chen Wenbin wanted to say that the fat old man would definitely come crawling back first thing tomorrow morning, but seeing how considerate his fiancée was, he could only nod slightly, take her hand, and say with burning eyes:

"Diane, let's finish eating quickly, let me see how you're recovering..."

Betty, who was also sitting at the table, blushed upon hearing this and ate her food silently with her head down, while Mary across from her quietly gritted her teeth, as if she had made up her mind...

……

Silent all night.

Early the next morning.

As Chen Wenbin and the rosy-cheeked Diana were having breakfast, Franklin chuckled and knocked on the door of 76 White Street.

The moment the fat old man entered, he acted as if he were in his own home, casually tossing his top hat to Betty who was there to greet him. Then he plopped down at the dining table and urged, "...Robin! Hurry up and eat! I can't wait to see your experiment!"

Noticing Diana's surprised look, he nodded awkwardly to her, but then pressed Chen Wenbin, who was slowly eating his steamed bun, for an answer: "How exactly do you plan to use electricity to drive the metal? Is it the magnetic field you mentioned?"

But how can you control the direction of the magnetic field?

Chen Wenbin completely ignored him, finished the last bite of beef on his plate, wiped his lips with the napkin around his neck, and said indifferently, "Benjamin, I don't have enough time right now!"

Did you know? Yesterday, the company placed an order for 83 more spinning machines, totaling over four thousand pounds!

We sold £10,000 in just two days!

If you don't want your investment to lose money, you'd better let me focus my energy on running the company!

"Of course I don't want my investment to lose money! But..."

Franklin said with a hint of resentment, "But you've piqued my curiosity, and then you don't satisfy it. Isn't that a bit irresponsible?"

Seeing his resentful look, Chen Wenbin sneered, "Come on! My friend! Do you want to satisfy your curiosity, or do you want to turn your six hundred pounds into six thousand pounds?"

And after I finish my work, I will continue to study electromagnetic phenomena. Be patient, and in another week you will receive your first dividend!

Upon hearing about the dividends, Franklin abandoned his curiosity about scientific truth and quickly asked, "Will the order be completed in a week? I have 600 shares; how much will I receive?"

Chen Wenbin shrugged: "...I don't know the exact figure, but after deducting various costs and taxes, the profit from the first batch of orders is about £4000. Dividing that by 40000 shares, the profit per share is £0.1, so 600 shares would be £60..."

"My God! There are so many?!"

Old Fu was shocked. In less than half a month, he had made a 10% profit... He already regretted not asking for more.

"It's not 60 pounds, it's half of 60 pounds!" Chen Wenbin shook his head and said, "The company can't distribute all its profits. As I promised before, we will distribute a maximum of half of the profits to shareholders each year; otherwise, the company cannot develop normally!"

Franklin chuckled easily, "Haha! Half is great too! This is one of the best investments I've ever made..."

He looked at Chen Wenbin and sincerely thanked him, "Robin, thank you for letting me join!"

He knew very well that Chen Wenbin chose to give up his shares to those wealthy local businessmen and families in Rhode Island in order to form an alliance of interests. He himself, who may have a lot of influence in Pennsylvania, could only settle in Boston now because he had offended the Payne family.

He felt that Chen Wenbin was willing to let him invest partly because he valued Chen's connections in the UK and his status as a Fellow of the Royal Society, but also partly because of their friendship as scientists.

"...If you really want to thank me, then hurry up and pay up the share capital you're owed! Otherwise, I can't settle your dividends!"

Chen Wenbin didn't stand on ceremony and urged him to pay up... The fat man was the only shareholder of Providence United Industrial Company who hadn't actually paid up any capital. In fact, the fat man had acquired 600 shares without paying a single penny, purely by using his connections!

Others fawned over the old fat man because he was a scientist, but Chen Wenbin didn't indulge him. If he didn't pay within a month, those 600 shares would be sold directly to all shareholders according to the existing shareholding ratio.

When the old man heard that he had to pay money, his face stiffened, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse, so he could only nod: "...Alright! I'll raise the money as soon as possible!"

"There's one more thing!"

Chen Wenbin thought for a moment and then said, "I have sent my 'Theory of Oxidation' and 'Studies on Air and Oxygen' to the Pennsylvania Gazette and the Boston Reporter. You are a partner in the Pennsylvania Gazette, so please write two articles for me in the newspaper!"

I'll pay you five pounds for each article!

Five pounds!

Franklin, who had initially shown little interest, suddenly perked up when he heard that each article would be paid five pounds!

Most of his wealth was in fixed assets, including land in Pennsylvania, newspaper shares, and a house in Philadelphia. His cash mainly came from newspaper dividends and rent, and he didn't have much cash at all.

To raise the £600 equity stake, the only options were to borrow money or sell the property, but the property couldn't be sold in the short term...

He looked at Chen the Rich Man and said sincerely, "Robin, I have a request..."

Chen Wenbin knew what he was up to just by looking at his expression, and immediately raised his hand to interrupt, "Stop! You can borrow money from me, but I can only lend you a hundred pounds at most! I'm also waiting for my company's dividends!"

Having said that, he thwarted the old fat man's idea of ​​writing articles to make up the numbers, "I only need two reports, Benjamin! You know very well that five pounds per article isn't a long-term business..."

"Honey!"

Diana, who had been observing the exchange between the two, then interjected with a smile, "I do have a hundred pounds that I can lend to Mr. Franklin!"

The old man immediately looked at her expectantly.

"...But I have one condition!"

Diana extended a slender, pale finger, smiling at Franklin, and said, "I hope Mr. Franklin can use beautiful writing to tell the love story of Robin and me, and receive the blessings of the public..."