North America 1849, from Gold Rush to Warlord

Chapter 72 Hurry, I can't wait!
Ah Zu had prepared the contract in advance, and a notary was invited to the scene for signing and handover.

Thus, they used $200,000 worth of gold to buy high-quality assets worth over $2 million.

After obtaining two chests of gold, Ross and his family vanished overnight!
With the loss of these high-quality assets, the bankruptcy of Bay Area banks is now inevitable.

Even if Ross injected $200,000 into Bay Area Bank, it wouldn't change the outcome.

Rather than squandering all your wealth and ending up bankrupt and penniless, it's better to take the money and run.

Ross's departure caused the Bay Area banks to collapse overnight!
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; all the employees vanish like birds and beasts. Countless angry depositors ransacked the head office and all the branches, and several branches were burned to the ground.

Unbeknownst to anyone, on the very night the Ross family disappeared, an old galleon quietly departed from port under the cover of darkness.

The galleon left San Francisco Bay silently, passed through the narrow strait, and soon appeared on the high seas, setting sail south.

But before they had sailed far on the high seas, just as dawn was breaking, they were intercepted by three ships that suddenly appeared.

At first, the galleon wanted to speed away with full sails, but faced with the dark muzzle of the cannon and the booming sound of the cannons, it had no choice but to lower its sails, drop anchor, and obediently stop.

On the ship leading the way opposite, a tall, thin young Chinese man stood facing the wind at the bow.

"Mr. Ross, it's so early, where would you like to go?"
-
The Ross family has completely disappeared.

Neither angry depositors nor wealthy individuals with savings in Bay Area banks could find the Ross family anywhere.

Bay Area Bank collapsed. Faced with countless angry depositors, the court had no choice but to auction off the remaining assets of the Bay Area Bank, and the proceeds will be used to compensate all depositors.

The Bay Area Bank's remaining assets mainly consist of real estate owned by its headquarters and a dozen or so branches, some armored cash transport vehicles, and Ross's private mansion, among other things.

As for the Bay Area Bank's original large amount of high-quality assets, Ross has legally and legitimately sold them all to East West Corporation.

In the foreclosure auction, the Bay Area Bank's only assets were valued at around $160,000, while the starting bid was a mere $50,000.

Most of the people who participated in the auction were hoping to find a bargain, and after bidding for more than an hour, the price still hadn't exceeded $100,000.

Forty-two seven thousand US dollars!

The sudden sound plunged the entire auction site into a deathly silence!
Everyone involved in the auction stared at the young Chinese man who finally raised his paddle and delivered the final blow, as if he were a fool.

Azu simply smiled at everyone, handed over the rest of the work to Vic and Daisy, and got up to leave the auction site.

Buying assets that are not worth the price at such a high price, no one can guess why Ah Zu would do such a thing.

Only Azu himself knew that exactly this amount of dollars and gold was found on Ross's ship!
Ross ran away, Bay Area banks collapsed, and countless depositors suffered heavy losses. Azu used this method as a small form of compensation.

In other words, Azu used $200,000 to acquire the largest bank in California, as well as all of Ross's personal assets, thus fulfilling his promise.

However, Azu is not planning to open his new bank for the time being. He will wait until the bank run has completely subsided before taking action.

There are more important things to do right now.

That is, to give Vivian a spectacular eighteenth birthday celebration!
It was already mid-September, and Major Daniel Cameron had already begun his operation.

It's time for Ah Zu to take action!
But before that, nothing was more important than celebrating Vivian's eighteenth birthday. Back at the shipyard, Azu first sought out Edgar Allan Poe.

"Ellen, how's that going?"

Edgar Allan Poe nodded slightly: "My old friend, Commander Hamilton, has finally agreed! He has given us a vacancy for a militia company, but we must arrange everything ourselves."

Azu breathed a sigh of relief: "As long as we have this title, everything will be easier! From now on, we will have our own militia. Let's quickly make our flag and do it according to our agreement."

“Good!” Edgar Allan Poe then handed over a small piece of wood: “This was just delivered by that Chinese mute on horseback. He left after delivering this thing, and I don’t know what it meant.”

Azu took the piece of wood and looked at it. There was a deep groove carved on it, and on the groove, a rifle and a knife were roughly carved.

Ah Zu understood immediately!

So he whispered two sentences in Edgar Allan Poe's ear.

“Yes, I will make all the necessary preparations!” Edgar Allan Poe replied.

Azu turned around and found the young foreign woman who was busy recruiting.

"Vivian, hasn't your Uncle Evan been urging you several times to send you to school?"

“Yes!” Vivian looked worried as soon as the matter was brought up: “Uncle Evan has sent people to urge me many times, but I can only pretend to be sick and keep putting it off!”

“This can’t go on like this, right?” Azu took Vivian’s delicate, fair hand. “Come on, it’s time to go see our Uncle Evan!”

"Huh...? Going to see Uncle Evan? Really?"

Vivian was clearly a little flustered; she really didn't want to go to school.

Being with Azu, she felt that every day was busy, fulfilling, reassuring, and happy.

If you enter a rigid and inflexible church school, won't you be suffocated to death?

"Don't panic!" Azu gently patted her little hand: "I've said it before, no one can force you if you don't want to, not even your own uncle!"

"But...!" Vivian's little face was still full of reluctance.

Finally, Azu pulled her onto the carriage. Her little mouth was pouting the whole time, and she was a little angry and a little uneasy.

In the carriage, Azu suddenly asked, "Vivian, aren't you about to turn eighteen? It's time for your birthday and coming-of-age ceremony."

"No, it's still about a month away!" Vivian felt a little confused. Why would this guy ask that?
Coming-of-age ceremony? Does this guy have some ulterior motive?
He hugs me to sleep every night, and he's all over me, kissing me until my lips are swollen, but he just won't do *that*!
Could it be that this guy is waiting for the day he truly becomes an adult?
Upon realizing this, Vivian's face flushed red, and her heart pounded wildly.

Azu didn't notice anything amiss and continued, "No, it's time for your birthday and coming-of-age ceremony, yes, it's tomorrow!"

"Why? Can't you wait another month?"

Now, Vivian had completely misunderstood!
"Hehe, I really can't wait for this!"

(End of this chapter)