50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 686 St. John's Cathedral: Keeping Pace with the Times

Guotai's Zheng Jiafa truly lived up to his reputation as the influential figure he knew from his previous life, analyzing many astonishing insights from the words left behind by Sun Zhiwei.

Starting from the second year, Cathay began to expand horizontally, no longer confined to the financial industry, but began to diversify its investments to reduce the risk of concentrated assets.

Sun Zhiwei had no idea how Zheng Jiafa had come up with so much information that even he himself was unaware of.

However, when he saw that Zheng Jiafa's newly established investment department had begun to provide funding for high-tech industries such as the Internet, he said nothing more.

It's very likely that Zheng Jiafa had already foreseen the future development trends of the computer and internet industry, and the so-called inspiration he drew from Sun Zhiwei's words was just an excuse.

Since he believed Zheng Jiafa was capable of managing Guotai well, he gave him full trust.

The Plaza Accord controversy that began at the end of September continues, and the following two years will see a sustained depreciation of the US dollar.

Sun Zhiwei handed everything over to Zheng Jiafa to manage, while he himself returned to his family.

That day, Tong Jiajia brought up the issue of her two children's baptism with him. This was something Father Owen had brought up with her the previous week when she went to church for worship.

If Father Owen hadn't mentioned it, Sun Zhiwei and his wife would have almost forgotten about such an important matter.

Father Irwin, however, understood perfectly. Families like theirs, who joined the church later, were different from traditional Western families who integrated religion into their lives; they did not treat faith as a habit.

If you spend some time with a traditional Christian family, you'll see that they give thanks to God for the food they receive every day before eating.

On weekends or religious holidays, I would go to church, attend services, or volunteer.

Every Friday and the 13th, sensitive topics are avoided.

In Western families, it is perfectly natural for newborns to be baptized, for adults to receive communion, for adults to get married, and for the deceased to have their funerals held in churches.

Just like if he were in the country, Sun Zhiwei would remember to hold a full-month celebration for his child, the third-day bath, and other ceremonies.

In Chaoshan and Hakka regions, families hold coming-of-age ceremonies such as "leaving the garden" when their children reach adulthood.

It's inappropriate that they hadn't thought about baptism before, but it wasn't a habit yet, so I won't go into details.

Now that Father Irwin had brought it up, he naturally couldn't ignore it any longer.

He happened to have some free time these past few days, so he took the opportunity to visit St. John's Cathedral.

Father Irwin received him in his office. This was Sun Zhiwei's first time in Irwin's office, and to his surprise, he saw a brand-new IBM personal computer there.

It feels very incongruous to have a state-of-the-art computer in such a grand cathedral filled with religious rituals.

In his mind, religion and computers don't seem to go well together.

But the truth is that it has been 12 years since the first personal computer, "Otto," appeared, and computers are no longer a rarity in developed Western countries.

On the contrary, personal computers launched by companies such as Apple and IBM have become very fashionable home appliances, and many families have started to buy computers.

Many technology companies have begun to introduce computers to process documents, and churches are no exception.

Especially after his suggestion to the church to boost its finances, Father Irwin has already implemented the membership system he mentioned and begun promoting it among the congregation. The VIP tier system, in particular, has been well-received by most wealthy believers since its launch.

When Irving introduced this topic to him, Sun Zhiwei understood those wealthy people very well.

The Sunday communion at St. John's Cathedral used to be inedible; those dry biscuits were so tough they could choke you. You had to drink at least half a glass of red wine to eat one bite, otherwise it was truly impossible to swallow.

Since the introduction of the VIP package, the number of communion services presided over by Bishop Wilson has plummeted, with most believers now attending regular communion services.

The bread served in the church's regular communion service is made by the church's chef; it's soft, sweet, and delicious, making you want to buy several more to take home after you've eaten one.

Last month alone, St. John's Cathedral sold over a thousand communion breads, earning a profit of $1200.

This result left Bishop Wilson, who had dedicated his life to preparing Holy Communion himself, silent for an entire day.

Fortunately, Bishop Wilson was not a stubborn old man. After reassessing his own culinary skills, he did not revert to the original intention of the ceremony.

After all, churches are under a lot of financial pressure, and it would be a good thing if communion services could turn a profit.

Although the church's economic reforms have made great progress recently, with a significant increase in income and a substantial improvement in the overall economic environment of the church.

But given the enormous amount of money needed to complete the church, they still couldn't relax.

The reason Irving specifically brought up the baptism of Sun Zhiwei's child was not only because he knew they might have forgotten, but also because he wanted to remind them.

Another important reason is that the three levels of baptism ceremonies they originally designed have now been prepared.

Especially the highest level of baptism, the kind that uses sacred artifacts, no one has tried it yet.

Therefore, he thought that since Sun Zhiwei's twins had not yet had their baptism, it would be a good opportunity for them to try it out, and also to promote this high-class baptism ceremony.

Sun Zhiwei had no objection to this, after all, it was his idea, and it wouldn't hurt to spend a little money to try it out, especially since his two children also had this need.

"So, Father Irving, how are the arrangements made for this new baptismal church?"

“Mr. James, just as we agreed, we will draw water from the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem, use sacred vessels from the Vatican, and have Bishop Wilson preside over the ceremony.”

"At that time, we will also invite all the senior parishioners of the church to attend the ceremony."

Especially the last point, inviting senior parishioners to attend the ceremony, is a great opportunity to expand one's network, and it is also Father Irving's wish.

Because many of the economic suggestions Sun Zhiwei made have already shown initial results, he always wanted to repay Sun Zhiwei.

He couldn't do anything about the money, but the church's connections should be very useful to Sun Zhiwei, which is why he took the initiative to bring it up, since it was something that would benefit everyone.

Since St. John's Church began implementing a hierarchical system for believers, most wealthy believers, as well as those with status and position, have voluntarily upgraded themselves and their families to higher-level believers.

This alone added a million dollars to the church's revenue. And that's just a small part, it's just membership fees.

(End of this chapter)