Joking aside.

Business comes first.

As soon as he entered the house.

Dirk Carter handed Daisy Young a glass of water.

She gulped it down, took a deep breath, and said, "The person you're talking about, Jaden Lawson, I've heard of him a long time ago, a prominent figure in Keston City. After your call, I did some digging, and indeed, I found quite a bit of inside information."

She didn't send it through a call or a fax because this matter also involves another person, a renowned figure, Benson Caldwell of the Aether Group.

Let's talk about Jaden Lawson first.

His eccentricity wasn't acquired later in life; it's been there since he was a child.

Jaden Lawson's father is named Wyatt Lawson, who once served as the director of the Serenity State Department of Commerce.

He was a head-level official.

In other words, Jaden Lawson is a second-generation official.

Jaden Lawson, relying on his father, the director, to back him up, has been unruly since childhood, getting into a lot of trouble, but every time, Wyatt Lawson would settle it for him.

This raised him to be arrogant and domineering.

He looked down on everyone.

Of course, such a person is destined not to achieve much.

Moving on to Benson Caldwell.

Benson Caldwell was born into an ordinary worker's family and did not get much schooling.

He didn't even graduate elementary school before mixing on the streets; at 16, he followed his father to a small factory to work.

Originally, he would've coasted through life like this.

But right at this time, his childhood friend returned to the village in style.

This person is Dexter Dalton, nicknamed "Low Tiger." He is also the one who led Benson Caldwell to success later on.

The nickname Low Tiger isn't because he's short but because his body's proportions are incredibly unbalanced, a long upper torso and short lower half; the nickname was given by Benson Caldwell who grew up with him.

When he was also 16.

Low Tiger felt it was no good to continue struggling like this, spent all his savings, bribed a snakehead, and smuggled himself abroad.

Three years later.

He returned.

This time, he came back driving a car, dressed in a sharp suit, which made Benson Caldwell envious.

When the brothers met again, after a few drinks, Low Tiger didn't hold back anything.

It turned out, in a foreign land without language skills or survival skills, reaching the end of his rope, he keenly discovered that some expensive wristwatches abroad cost only a few hundred to a thousand, and bringing them back to the country would easily sell for tens of thousands.

Thus.

He got into the smuggling business.

His main trade was watches.

By smuggling watches, that's how he became so affluent.

Upon hearing this.

Benson Caldwell was intrigued.

At that time, there was the reform and opening up, with a massive influx of foreign new things flooding into the country, spurring the public's desire to consume.

Other than watches.

The market demand for communication equipment and high-end home appliances was also big.

The two of them calculated it this way and felt there was big potential.

Benson Caldwell went against his parents' wishes, sold his family's only house, and secretly borrowed a lot of money, gathering a sum of ten thousand as starting capital to officially join Low Tiger, starting the smuggling business.

This thing indeed made money.

In just one year.

The ten thousand in Benson Caldwell's hands turned into two million.

Back in those days, two million wasn't just a huge amount, it was immense wealth.

Despite Benson Caldwell not having much schooling, his mind was exceedingly sharp; he loved beautiful women and would spend lavishly for them, and it was at this time he met Jaden Lawson, the future number two of the Aether Group, in a place of pleasure.

Jaden Lawson, such a person.

Logically, Benson Caldwell shouldn't have taken an interest in him.

But one couldn't resist that Jaden Lawson had a good father.

Over time, Benson Caldwell started to have thoughts about Jaden Lawson; if he could bring him into the team, with the relationship as the son of the director of the Department of Commerce, wouldn't smuggling be even easier?

With this thought, Benson Caldwell deliberately got close to Jaden Lawson.

At that time, coincidentally, Jaden Lawson wasn't financially well-off, and to have a generous boss suddenly willing to pay for his escapades was a blessing from above, wasn't it?

Soon, the two hit it off, and shortly after, they formed the future renowned Aether Group.

With Wyatt Lawson's connections.

The business of Aether Group began to expand further.

From the initial watches, communication equipment, home appliances, it developed into computer chips, industrial materials, edible oil, and the variety was very vast.

Precisely because of this.

Aether Group rapidly expanded in a short time.

It absorbed a large amount of wealth.

Hearing this.

Dirk Carter took a sharp breath.

He asked, "According to you, Aether Group originally made its fortune through smuggling, right?"

Daisy Young nodded and said, "In Keston City, this isn't actually a secret; it's not strange. Benson Caldwell's story is almost legendary, also a frequent topic of people's evening chats."

"Since that's the case, why hasn't anyone investigated them?"

Dirk Carter asked curiously.

Daisy Young chuckled and said, "That's not surprising, first of all, this is considered a rumor in town; whether it's true, no one knows, and even if they do, there's no evidence. After all, the current Aether Group has legitimate business, involving real estate, import-export trade, entertainment industry, tourism, and so on."

Indeed.

When someone becomes famous, there're bound to be various types of rumors.

There are positive and negative ones, naturally not worth mentioning. Although people say Benson Caldwell made his mark through smuggling, or perhaps he indeed did, as long as he's not caught, it's his skills.

Dirk Carter nodded and asked, "Given that Jaden Lawson is the number two person in Aether Group, why isn't he there and instead came to Ardmore City to establish the Pinnacle Group?"

Daisy Young smiled slightly and said, "This involves a rumor that's been circulating widely among the public lately."

Benson Caldwell met Jaden Lawson through a woman.

Back then they met in a place of pleasure.

After collaborating for many years.

Wyatt Lawson retired due to age.

Jaden Lawson, besides having a good father, was useless in every other aspect; after so many years in Aether Group, on the surface, he was the number two, but in reality, aside from eating, drinking, and indulging, he did nothing and knew nothing.

Low Tiger was quite dissatisfied with Jaden Lawson, and had long intended to kick him out.

But Benson Caldwell was a man of loyalty.

He believed that Aether Group wouldn't be what it was today without Jaden Lawson, and naturally, he opposed everyone and kept supporting him.

This relationship could've continued no problem.

But no one expected, it was women who made them and women who broke them; their fallout was also due to a woman.

The woman who turned the brothers against each other was called Erica Linden.

Upon hearing this.

Dirk Carter shivered again.

He asked, "Erica Linden? Is it that famous singer Erica Linden?"

Daisy Young nodded and said, "That's the rumor going around."

Dirk Carter took a sharp breath, sighing, "Money indeed is a wonderful thing; that someone like Erica Linden also fell. I've always thought of her as a pure goddess. Back in school, my favorite female singer was her."

Speaking of this Erica Linden, she truly is renowned.

Corrine Quance in these years is considered a star in vogue.

But compared to Erica Linden's level, there's a world of difference.

Erica Linden debuted at 16, and now in her thirties, she has been famous for about seventeen or eighteen years.

When she first debuted, Erica Linden quickly rose to fame with her goddess-level looks and enchanting voice; her first song went to number one on the music charts of that year.

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