Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight: Threats

Patterson's question was obviously a red herring!

Since they've been seated in the conference room all this time, they must be interested. Didn't you see those who were genuinely uninterested almost empty the room during the first break?

Anyway, as long as people are here, FDIC's reputation isn't tarnished, that's all that matters. Staying any longer is pointless; those who remain are probably not just full of ideas but also capable!

In this tacit understanding, Patterson's question seemed more like asking Carter and Goodman what they thought about his $50,000 offer...

"Interest, of course, there is. We just recovered a loan recently, so our financial situation is quite decent... But, if I may be blunt, Mr. Patterson! Your offer is too high!"

Quietly reaching under the table to press Carter's knee, Goodman smiled and responded.

Understanding Goodman's signal not to speak out of turn, Carter didn't intervene either. Sporting a vacant smile on his face, he remained silent, appearing innocently clueless, like a genuinely harmless young man, refraining from making any comments.

"What about you, Mr. Brook? Do you share the same opinion?"

Perhaps because Carter was playing dumb too convincingly, Patterson directed his breakthrough question at him. After all, he was the real boss, and he seemed like a good manipulator...

If Carter nodded, even if Goodman was dissatisfied, there wouldn't be much he could do to intervene.

"Yes, yes. Banking matters are usually handled by Uncle Goodman here. I'm still in school, so I don't understand these things much..."

Since he had decided to play along, Carter played along fully. While nodding repeatedly, he even tugged at Goodman's sleeve:

"Uncle Goodman, didn't Mr. Patterson say he would sell for $50,000? Why are you all talking about $300,000?"

"The $50,000 is what we need to pay Mr. Patterson now. Once we pay this amount, theoretically, Forest Bank will be ours. But to manage it well and make it profitable again, we'll need to invest more money into Forest Bank, and that's..."

Their dual act of "teaching through demonstration" made Patterson's eye twitch a little. Damn, can't you just go back home and study?

Ultimately, Patterson didn't curse out loud, but as he saw Carter playing along and not disrupting things, he seemed to have changed his mind about threatening Randall. If the deal went through at $44,000, what was the point of cursing Randall out? He didn't know if FDIC's reputation would be harmed by this news. But for him, Patterson, there would be no place left for him in Lozgia...

"It's not about whether it's feasible or not, Mr. Patterson!"

Old Bass chuckled, realizing that when it comes down to making money, no dignity matters anymore.

"We've known each other for four years now, from the young clerk who used to keep accounts to the team leader today. You're good and capable, better than many young people out there, but like them, you're prone to impulsive mistakes!"

"You're too eager to prove yourself! So as soon as you saw Forest Bank's good asset condition, you immediately rushed over and scared everyone away with an exorbitant price. Speaking of which, I should thank you~ hehe~"

"Maybe you think I'm threatening you, but in fact, if you don't sell now, when Pearson's unemployment rate rises a bit more... this bank won't look so wonderful anymore... Oh, and by the way, I'd like to remind you, dear Mr. Patterson."

"Pearson's pillar industry is logging, and the quality and output of pine wood in Lozgia rank first in the country! And our paper industry in Agiel is also quite developed. Unfortunately, I've heard that recently, several paper mills in our city haven't been doing too well. If I use a large amount of money to buy Forest Bank now, will I still have money to provide loans to them?"

"If they lack loans... So, Mr. Patterson. This isn't me, Old Bass, threatening you. I'm just stating a fact. If things really get to that point, none of us will be doing well, and our reputations won't look good either, right?"

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

Pearson's employment relies on the logging industry to absorb workers, and this wood needs to be transported to Agiel's paper mills to be turned into paper and distributed nationwide. If Agiel's paper mills reduce production due to Old Bass's lack of loans, in this already tough period, they'll have to lay off workers and cut down on raw material procurement, thus self-sealing a portion of their capacity to reduce costs...

And once again, a batch of layoffs and pay cuts. In this way, how many bad debts will appear from the seemingly good $2.74 million loan, and how much will be reduced from the originally seemingly sufficient $1.6 million in cash deposits...

"Do you really think the three of you can control everything?"