Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 79 An Unexpected Trip to New York (Seeking monthly votes and recommendations)

When the carriage convoy arrived at Colt Firearms Company, the executives, who had already been informed, stood downstairs at the headquarters to greet them. The executives completely ignored the original protagonist, Mr. Wallace, and the bond underwriting team from New York, and instead stood in front of the first carriage, queuing to shake hands with Mr. Charles Coster.

Larry became increasingly curious about the background of this gray-eyed middle-aged gentleman.
It wasn't until he met Mr. Andrew, the Colt executive who gave Larry the pony badge, that the enigmatic Mr. Coster first revealed a polite demeanor and spoke to him in a serious tone.

"I have come to visit Colt Company on behalf of Mr. Morgan. Mr. Morgan is unable to attend in person due to various matters, so please allow me to convey his sincerest regards to your company and to Mrs. Elizabeth Colt."

Mr. Andrew thanked Mr. Morgan and Mr. Coster for their greetings.

Larry suddenly realized why Mr. Coster with gray eyes was so popular; he was J.P. Morgan's partner.

Colt's financing plan has shifted direction, and with Mr. Morgan's representatives arriving, the importance of the matter has been elevated once again.

At the ensuing banquet, Larry was relegated to being a mere spectator, only able to eat at the very bottom of the long table.

After the dinner, Mr. Coster returned to the accommodations specially prepared by Colt and rested early. The bond underwriting team of Paine Weber Securities was also informed that they would have to wait until the next morning after the meeting between Colt executives and Mr. Coster before deciding on the agenda.

The next morning, Mr. Coster held a closed-door meeting with Colt executives. The four members of the bond team and Mr. Wallace waited in a side room of the conference room, while Larry and Mr. Coster's personal secretary were arranged to rest in a conference room filled with Colt's glorious history.

Larry was bored out of his mind for four whole hours that morning. Unfortunately, Mr. Coster's secretary was a real shrew. No matter how Larry tried to chat with him or tell him jokes, he just stared at him with dead fish eyes and gave a few perfunctory "uh-huhs".

Larry thought to himself, "Do you think you're Koster's lover? What are you pretending for?"

Bored out of his mind, Larry sat down again and read the book about the history of Colt over and over again.

Mr. Coster's meeting with Colt executives lasted three hours.

As soon as the door opened, Mr. Coster's personal secretary rushed forward, standing by his side like a loyal hunting dog.

Larry stood up and observed that Mr. Coster and Mr. Andrew had expressionless faces, neither sad nor happy, yet they were exchanging heartfelt farewells. The group waved goodbye at the building entrance, and Colt Company arranged for a carriage and a senior executive to personally escort Mr. Coster away.

After seeing Mr. Koster off, the tall, thin Andrew turned around and waved to Mr. Wallace and the four-person bond underwriting team from New York at Paine Weber Securities, instructing them to immediately begin preparing the relevant agenda for Colt's bond issuance.

Larry nodded, thinking that this must be because Mr. Morgan heard that Colt needed financing and wanted to get involved, but it seemed that the two groups had not reached an agreement.

It's good that the deal didn't go through! Otherwise, the Colt deal might have encountered new variables, which would be detrimental to Larry's ability to profit from the stock later.

But things took a new turn in the afternoon. Around four o'clock, Mr. Wallace hurriedly found Larry, handed him a small leather suitcase full of documents, and sternly ordered,

"Larry, I have a new task for you! It might be a bit troublesome, but you must, absolutely must, make sure you complete it carefully and accurately!"

Larry stiffened, quickly stood up, and responded with equal seriousness.
“Sir! Please don’t hesitate to ask if there’s anything you need me to do.” Mr. Wallace frowned slightly, carefully scrutinizing Larry again before speaking.

“We’ve just compiled some financial data for Colt Corporation, and this data needs to be submitted directly to Mr. Morgan… You know, Mr. Morgan is a great investment banker, and he’s extremely demanding when it comes to data. You not only need to submit this data to Mr. Morgan, but you also need to explain all the aforementioned financial figures to him…”

As he spoke, Mr. Wallace looked into Larry's eyes again, put a hand on his shoulder, and said earnestly,

"My four colleagues on the bond team and I are all unable to travel to New York, so this matter can only be handled by you. Larry Livingston, this is a major event involving a $2500 million financing project, so please take it seriously. When you meet Mr. Morgan, you must be able to answer his questions about Colt's data fluently."

Larry took a deep breath, thinking to himself, "Am I about to go to New York?"

They even made me personally deliver the documents to Mr. Morgan and explain the relevant financial data. It feels like a dream.
However, the situation at the moment left Larry no time to think, and he immediately accepted this glorious and arduous task.

Mr. Wallace nodded, then took out the documents and explained to Larry one by one which data was key and which data had to be memorized. He explained everything in detail three times, and Larry had to repeat it to him several times before he was at ease.

Larry has always had a good memory and a sharp mind. Mr. Wallace explained it to him once, and he has memorized all the key points.

On the second retelling, Mr. Wallace found only two minor errors in his retelling.

By the time Larry repeated it for the third time, Mr. Wallace could only nod.

“Very good! Larry, you did a fantastic job. Bringing you out was absolutely the right decision. You’ll be taking a Colt carriage to the train station in a bit; they’ve already bought the tickets. But getting to New York requires a transfer. You’ll be in New Haven for eight hours before taking another train to New York. They’ll give you the tickets; just be careful on the road.”

As he spoke, Mr. Wallace took out another $100 from his wallet, copied down the telegraphic address of Colt Company, and handed it to Larry, instructing him to send the information to Mr. Morgan and, regardless of the outcome, to send him a telegram immediately.

Larry took the money and telegram address, and nodded solemnly in agreement.

Larry then rode in a Colt company carriage to the train station.

As Larry passed the betting shop in Hartford, he glanced out the window, wondering if Mr. K had collected the $2000 debt yet.

Upon arriving at the train station, Larry was personally escorted onto the train by Colt employees.

This time it was also first class, but the difference was that the train journey from Hartford to New York took 21 hours. Larry had to take a 5-hour train to New Haven, wait there for 8 hours, and then transfer to the train from New Haven to New York, which would take another 8 hours.

Larry did the math: they'd arrive in New Haven early Wednesday morning, and by the time they got to New York, it would be Wednesday night.

Taking a long trip these days is really exhausting.

(End of this chapter)