Henry Clark refreshed his social media feed and saw that a certain celebrity had posted a rather extreme comment for a public figure—

　　“The ones who should die don’t, and a bunch of those who shouldn’t die end up dead.”

　　The accompanying image was a photo of someone smashing a cockroach with a slipper.

　　The top hot comment below:

　　[When you find one cockroach in your house, there are already more hiding somewhere.]

Chapter 3: Counterfeit Goods

　　The next day, Henry Clark left early in the morning, running around to handle compensation payments for several partner companies.

　　It wasn’t until three in the afternoon that Henry Clark finally found time for a quick meal and a short rest, before immediately heading to the last company—Qianli Group’s Rongcheng branch.

　　Qianli Group owns several top domestic clothing brands, and Henry Clark had only ever worked with one of them. With his current status, he hadn’t yet reached the level to interact with Qianli Group’s real decision-makers.

　　However, just as he finished settling the debts and was about to leave, Henry Clark was told that someone wanted to see him.

　　Brian Foster, head of business development for Qianli Group’s Rongcheng team, was a graduate of the same university as Henry Clark. Back when Henry Clark was a sophomore, Brian Foster had been invited by the school to give a speech, so Henry Clark knew of him.

　　Qianli Group is a family business, and though Brian Foster was not yet thirty, he already held considerable influence within the company. To have reached his current position at such a young age took more than just family connections.

　　Still, the fact that the very busy Brian Foster would make time to meet a junior he didn’t even know surprised Henry Clark. What seemed like a big deal to his own studio was, in his mind, not something someone at Brian Foster’s level would handle personally.

　　Henry Clark wasn’t wrong—if it had been a different time or a different person, Brian Foster wouldn’t have bothered. But today, while discussing a project with someone, Brian Foster happened to mention Henry Clark’s studio.

　　Brian Foster also knew about the incident where Henry Clark’s business partner had screwed him over and run off with the money. Hearing that Henry Clark was coming in today to handle compensation, and since he happened to have some rare free time and was in a good mood, Brian Foster decided to do a good deed and had Henry Clark called upstairs, planning to chat with his junior, share some life experience, and perhaps show a bit of a winner’s sympathy for someone who had failed in business.

　　Brian Foster sighed at his junior’s misfortune. But that’s just how business is—no amount of sympathy is worth anything. After this setback, who knows if he’ll get back up. Over twenty million in compensation is a huge pitfall for someone just starting out, and Brian Foster hadn’t heard of this junior having any special background. Still, being able to fill such a big hole, no matter how, is a skill in itself.

　　Everyone has their own unspeakable hardships.

　　Brian Foster was thinking about how to comfort his junior without hurting his pride, but when he saw Henry Clark walk into the office, he was momentarily stunned.

　　First, he was surprised by his junior’s appearance.

　　Second, and most importantly, Henry Clark’s current mental state was excellent—there was not a trace of resentment or defeat in his eyes, nothing like someone who had just suffered a major career setback.

　　“Director Lu…” Henry Clark said.

　　“Don’t call me Director Lu, call me Mr. Foster. I’m only a few years older than you, and we graduated from the same school—no need to be so formal!”

　　Brian Foster’s smile grew much warmer, instantly switching from the unfamiliar alumni mode to the potential business partner mode.

　　Just as he thought, if Henry Clark could get past this hurdle, no matter how, it was a skill. So it was worth deepening this alumni connection.

　　So, in the friendly atmosphere Brian Foster deliberately created, the conversation ranged from the school anniversary to employment rates, from entrepreneurial experience to business philosophy.

　　Most of the time, it was Brian Foster talking and Henry Clark playing along.

　　Facing Henry Clark, Brian Foster clearly felt a sense of superiority, and his words carried the tone of a winner in life giving advice and concern to a junior who had suffered a setback.

　　When he finished, Brian Foster glanced at his watch.

　　Henry Clark understood it was time for him to leave.

　　“I’ll remember what you said, Mr. Foster. Thank you, Mr. Foster, sorry to have taken up so much of your time…”

　　As he spoke, Henry Clark’s gaze sharpened, and the words he was about to say trailed off.

　　Noticing Henry Clark’s reaction, Brian Foster followed his gaze to his own wrist and couldn’t help but smile.

　　“Nice, right? It’s a new D&B watch, a gift from my girlfriend. It’s a gift set, with a matching wallet from the same series—limited edition, hard to get.” Brian Foster said proudly, stretching his wrist toward Henry Clark to show off his new limited edition watch.

　　Of course, Henry Clark knew the D&B brand—a top global luxury brand that had risen during the period of climate anomalies, even surpassing many established giants, and had never lost its market dominance since.

　　Since it was a top luxury brand and a limited edition, the watch on Brian Foster’s wrist couldn’t have been cheap.

　　But that wasn’t what Henry Clark cared about.

　　After observing Brian Foster’s reaction and hesitating for a moment, Henry Clark said, “Mr. Foster, can I take a look at your watch?”

　　This was the first time Brian Foster had encountered such a request. After a moment of surprise, he didn’t make things awkward for Henry Clark, and took off the watch to hand it over.

　　Henry Clark pulled a tissue from the tea table nearby and used it to receive the watch.

　　Brian Foster: “……”

　　He, Brian Foster, wasn’t so stingy as to not let others touch his watch, and he didn’t have a cleanliness obsession. But this junior really was quite particular—well, that was fine too.