America 1881: They Call Me Legend

Chapter 238 Moving trees and establishing trust

Seven or eight people will come down immediately.

They were all wearing black clothes with stand-up collars, a style I had never seen before. They looked like coats, but were thinner than coats. They were very close-fitting and handsome.

Several of them were carrying a box in their hands.

The hats covered their faces, making it difficult to see clearly except for the leader.

The man strode through the door.

Under the gaze of everyone, he raised his head, his sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, his face as calm as water, and his chin covered with short, hard beard could not hide the youthfulness of his face.

Most people in the exchange didn't know who he was, but they could all feel an aura coming to them.

They talked a lot:

"Who is this person?"

"I don't know him. Judging from his skin color, he is an Indian, right? He looks like a chief at least."

"Stop talking nonsense. All the Indians nearby are dead. Is he a Chinese?"

"Chinese? I seem to have heard of a powerful Chinese in Roswell before."

"Hey, guess what they carry in the box? It can't be money, right?"

…

The person who came was none other than Chen Jianqiu. He took off his leather gloves, looked around, and found a bench in the last row with Camilla to sit down.

Hanif and Abiot stood behind them.

At this time, the mustache on the stage was very worried. He could not tell the people below that this matter was decided by the judge, and he was the messenger.

"I did a rough calculation and found that the land you marked above was all acquired by Leonard later. These lands are on the outskirts of the town and are worthless at all!" The timber merchant pointed to the wooden board next to Mustache with his cane.

"Those IOUs are all bad debts! There are only a handful of them that can be recovered, and all these together..." The businessman paused and tapped the ground with his cane, "Your starting price won't be a negative number, right?"

Only a fool would buy these.

There was a roar of laughter in the exchange. After the laughter, the creditors suddenly discovered that the merchant's words revealed a reality:

If no one takes this advantage, their money will never be recovered.

As a result, their emotions became aroused again, and the discussion about the matter itself gradually turned into abusing the judge.

"That guy collected dirty money again!"

"What a bullshit mortgage contract, we haven't seen it at all! That damn judge teamed up with others to swallow up the good land again."

"Say quickly! Who owns that villa?"

"Yes! Say it quickly!"

…

These Lincolnshire businessmen have fully inherited the fine traditions of this American frontier town, being hands-on and never noisy.

They rushed to the trading desk, trying to grab the mustache's clothes.

A voice suddenly came from the back row of seats:

The sound is not loud, but it is clear and majestic.

"It's mine, what happened?"

The crowd that had been noisy just now fell silent, and everyone looked at the last row of chairs again.

Chen Jianqiu stood up and repeated what he just said:

"Leonard's villa was mortgaged to me, what happened?"

He waved to lawyer Dylan behind him.

The lawyer took out a copy of Leonard's mortgage loan contract from his coat and showed it to the onlookers.

Everyone present more or less understood the meaning of this contract. Even those who were illiterate, Leonard's signature and handprint in the lower right corner were genuine.

If this were New York or Philadelphia, everyone would take a few steps back and maintain some respect for the contract.

However, this is Lincoln County, a place full of martial arts, Lincoln County, New Mexico, a place that has not experienced peace in the past ten years.

"This contract is fake! Don't believe it! These high-quality assets have been misappropriated by them!" said the timber businessman holding a cane.

"Yes! Let them spit it out! These bastards!"

These creditors are not willing to give in. They prefer to believe that there is no good person in Lincoln County from top to bottom in the judicial system.

The excited timber merchant rushed to Chen Jianqiu and pointed his cane at him:

"Don't think you can hide it from me. Fred and Leonard have done all these despicable tricks of yours before!"

He spoke so much that spittle flew out of his mouth, his face and neck turned red, and he tried to strike out with his cane.

However, he suddenly shut up, and instead, he screamed "Ouch~".

The lumber merchant suddenly felt a sharp pain in the wrist of the hand holding his cane. The cane instantly fell off and rolled several times on the ground.

Then, he felt his knees sore again, his calves softened, and he knelt down with a plop.

When he raised his head again, a revolver was pressed against his forehead.

Chen Jianqiu used one hand to twist the merchant's wrist, then kicked him to his knees. At this time, he had already returned to the original place with his hands behind his back.

"Do you want to make him quieter?" The revolver in Abiot's hand pushed forward a little more.

The timber merchant's eyes were extremely frightened and his mouth opened wide.

Chen Jianqiu picked up his cane from the ground, and with a little force with both hands, the cane broke into two pieces.

He walked to the businessman's side and put the two severed canes into his clothes.

"I hope you can understand what respect is." Chen Jianqiu looked at the businessman who dared not move and said, "Scott is right, Lincoln County needs order, and New Mexico also needs order."

He stood up and looked at the people around him:

"Now, can everyone chat normally?"

The scene was completely silent. Although everyone was used to the constant firefights around Lincoln County, for the first time, they felt a sense of oppression and suffocation in such a real way.

"Please continue, where did you just say?" Chen Jianqiu turned to the mustache on the stage and asked with interest.

"Uh, I mean, this auction is a no-reserve bidding." Mustache wiped the sweat from his head.

What a ridiculous job the judge gave him. If it weren't for the salary he was receiving, he would have been unwilling to do such a bad job.

"I'll pay you one dollar." Chen Jianqiu gestured with his index finger.

The exchange is quieter.

Everyone, including Mustache, was stunned.

Everyone's minds are a little confused.

What does this Chinese person mean?

"I am willing to pay one dollar to participate in this auction, acquire Leonard's remaining assets, including the newly acquired land, bonds, and IOUs, and assume all of his liabilities."

Chen Jianqiu emphasized every word, and his voice could be heard both inside and outside the exchange.

Everyone began to whisper, and they did not dare to speak loudly for fear of offending the young man in front of them who could not tell his mood.

"If the transaction can be successful, the debtors present can come to us to deal with their debt problems after the trade fair." Chen Jianqiu waved his hand behind him, "We have brought enough cash."

Li Sifu and the others, who were carrying suitcases, opened the suitcase in their hands. Inside was a stack of stacked U.S. dollar bills, which were dazzlingly green.

Everyone was shocked. They stared blankly at the dollar bills and didn't know what to say for a while.

"Is it okay if I say this, sir?" Chen Jianqiu said to the mustache on the stage.

The sweat on the mustache's head became even more intense. Although it was winter, he felt hotter than in summer.

"Yes, of course, sir!"

"Then go ahead." Chen Jianqiu had a smile on his face.

Mustache quickly continued to perform his duties. He picked up the small wooden hammer:

"Is anyone else raising the price?"

“One dollar a time!”

“Twice for a dollar!”

“Three times for a dollar!”

"Congratulations to this...um, what's your surname?"

"My surname is Chen."

"Oh, congratulations to Mr. Chen. He won the ownership of Leonard's remaining assets and debts by bidding for one dollar."

Mustache handed a document to Chen Jianqiu, but Chen Jianqiu didn't even look at it and directly handed it to Dylan.

The lawyer scanned it once and nodded at Chen Jianqiu.

Chen Jianqiu then signed his name on it.

After Mustache left, Chen Jianqiu's people took over the front desk, where they set up a few tables and put the money boxes aside.

Chen Jianqiu fulfilled his promise and dealt with Leonard's debt problem for those creditors on the spot.

Lawyer Dylan went back and forth between them to confirm the authenticity and amount of the loan.

At first, most people couldn't believe the authenticity of this matter. They all came with loan contracts or IOUs.

Almost everyone never expected to get the money they owed on the same day.

To settle the debts of so many people on the spot? Don’t say that this has never happened in Lincoln County. It is extremely rare in the history of the United States.

Finally a fur trader came up.

The money Leonard owed him had been delayed for two years. Although the amount was not large and the interest was not high, he had no hope of getting it back.

When he sat down, he looked suspicious, but ten minutes later, when he stood up with the US dollars in his hand.

Even he thought he was dreaming.

"Thank you, thank you Mr. Chen, you are really a person of high moral character."

The crowd was excited, and creditors rushed forward one after another to go through the procedures to get back their arrears.

Leonard was a shrewd man and had a background in lending. Except for the few loans in Chen Jianqiu's hands that had a slightly higher interest rate because they were urgently needed, the others were all very low.

But the delay is really long.

After Leonard died, they originally thought they could not even hope to get the principal, but now they can not only get the principal as expected, but also the interest.

When these people left the exchange happily, praise for Chen Jianqiu was everywhere:

"Mr. Chen is really a reputable man. He keeps his word and deserves to be so rich."

"Mr. Chen is really very rich and trustworthy."

"From what I see in Mr. Chen's appearance, he is a well-educated and pursuing person."

…

By evening, Leonard's debts were basically cleared.

All creditors have received their arrears, including the timber merchant who was kicked to his knees by Chen Jianqiu.

After receiving the debt and interest, he repeatedly apologized to Chen Jianqiu, saying that he was blind and judged a gentleman with a villain's heart. He hoped that Mr. Chen Jianqiu had a lot and would not argue with him.

Then, he held his broken wrist and left with a lot of gratitude.

At night, Chen Jianqiu was half-lying on the big chair in Leonard's office on the second floor of the big villa.

On the table in front of him was a pile of IOUs and loan contracts.

Chen Jianqiu turned his neck and looked at the table:

"Now, let's see who owes us money."

Second update

(End of chapter)