Naples, Italy, as the night wears on, a slightly inebriated Elrond, sits in the living room of Lilith's house, coffee brewed by Lilith's mother in hand, with Lilith fidgeting a bit beside him, while across the table sits Lilith's father and mother, who are scrutinizing Elrond with the same eyes they would use to look at their son-in-law.
The situation left Lilith a little overwhelmed, not understanding how things had progressed to this point. And her sister behind the door of the room was sticking her little head out to secretly observe the weird atmosphere at the table.
Elrond took a breathless sip of coffee before taking the lead, "Auntie, the coffee you brewed is so delicious, I hope that in the future I will have the opportunity to be able to drink such delicious coffee on a regular basis."
Lilith's father's eyes stared after hearing this. And Lilith's mother had laughed and spoke, "Haha .... Really? It's good that you like it, so come over often when you have the chance to drink it in the future. I'll go to the market tomorrow to find out if there's still any coffee available. Buy some over and store it for when you come over to drink it."
It was obvious that Lilith's mother was very appreciative of the calm temperament that Elrond displayed. There was a sense of a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, and the more she looked, the more she liked him.
And Elrond froze when he heard Lilith's mother's reply, "Is even the supply of coffee tight in the market now?"
"That's right! The war doesn't know when it will end, and now that the family business has closed down, there is a shortage of everything in the market, and if it continues like this, everyone is going to be unable to make ends meet." Lilith's mother heard Elrond discussing the supply of goods in the market with her, and also started complaining straight away.
Lilith's father, who was beside her, hastily coughed dryly twice and said, "Cough! Cough! What's the point of talking about this in front of a child.Elrond, I'll call you Elrond, don't mind!"
"Of course, Uncle calls me anything." Seeing that Lilith's father was about to start talking, Elrond hurriedly sat up straight and responded seriously.
"I see you're wearing a uniform, are you an American soldier?" Lilith's father obviously didn't recognize Elrond's armband.
"Uncle, I'm currently an ensign in the Naval Logistics Department of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, with the specific job of a transport ship captain."
Elrond's answer made Lilith beside him flinch and say, "Aren't you an infantryman in the Brazilian Expeditionary Force? How did you become a transportation captain in the Navy."
"Oh .... That's thanks to John's help, take the time to talk to you about it in detail, anyway now I don't have to go straight to the front line to fight the Germans."
Lilith's father was visibly relieved to hear that Elrond wouldn't have to fight the Germans on the front lines anymore. In a low voice, he muttered, "That's good, that's good."
Apparently they are worried that being with Lilith will affect their lives with Lilith later on when they die in the war or come back with a missing arm or leg. They don't know that Elrond and Lilith aren't even boyfriend and girlfriend yet! It was just a chance encounter that happened to be seen by him. But Elrond was happy about this beautiful misunderstanding.
"Auntie just said that the family business closed down, I wonder what kind of business uncle was originally in!" Elrond was looking for someone who could help him manage his Italian company, and it would be perfect if Lilith's father had had such an experience.
"A small business, mainly selling some imported machinery and equipment. With the outbreak of the war, the sea transportation is cut off, the business is no way to continue, and now they can only eat at home. Therefore, your aunt will have some complaints. I hope Elrond, you don't mind." Lilith's father said in a slightly embarrassed manner.
Hearing Lilith's father's answer, Elrond's heart was overjoyed, isn't this just like someone sending you a pillow when you want to doze off? If Lilith's father became the boss of his Italian branch, wouldn't it be twice as easy for him to pursue Lilith in the future?
"Oh! Then uncle is without a specific job now is he?"
Elrond's words obviously made Lilith's father, blush, slightly embarrassed.Elrond understood that this sentence was inappropriate hastily remedied, "I mean I have a job here, I don't know if uncle is interested."
Several people's eyes lit up when they heard Elrond's words, and they all looked at Elrond in unison. lilith's mother was the first to speak up, ''Oops! Elrond, is that true? I wonder what kind of job it is!"
"It's like this, it's that office building not far in front of your house has been bought by me, ready to be used as the office of the Italian branch of our Global Trading Co. I just registered the company's formalities today, and I'm looking for a manager who is familiar with the Italian situation! Since uncle has had experience in this area, wouldn't that be just right?"
"Elrond, really? Aren't you a soldier? How come you have time for business!" Now it was Lilith who couldn't help but wonder.
"It's because I'm a soldier that I need to find a manager to help me manage the company ah! I only need to manage the general direction of the company ah!" Looking at Elrond's taken-for-granted expression, Lilith surprisingly felt that it made sense as well.
Elrond turned his head to look at Lilith's father again and said, "Uncle, I wonder if you can come over and give me a hand, I can hire you to be the general manager of the Italian branch of the Universal Trading Company based on a salary of two hundred dollars per month plus year-end dividends."
Upon hearing Elrond's offer of two hundred dollars a month, several people's eyes lit up, and Lilith's mother blurted out, "Two hundred dollars a month, is that true? Elrond, is it really two hundred dollars a month?"
To be honest, the two hundred dollars per month that Elrond offered was definitely a good salary in Italy in this era, but compared to Elrond's profits, it was definitely quite low, but the relationship with Lilith hadn't gotten this close yet and it wasn't clear if Lilith's father's specific abilities were capable of handling this position. So Elrond first quoted this salary to Lilith's father, and then consider increasing the salary or equity incentives and dividend rewards if he is capable of doing so.
"Of course, how can I joke about such things! If uncle agrees, you can go to work tomorrow, we still have recruitment to fill up the various departments, hurry up and put the company's shelves up, and I'm going back to the army to report."
"Elrond, now that the sea transportation is cut off in times of war, how are we supposed to survive as a trading company like this?" Lilith's father, after all, was someone who had been in business and instantly grasped the point.
"Uncle you don't have to worry, as you know I'm a soldier and captain of a transport ship. So, although the German submarines are hunting around, my fleet will follow the American convoys in action and be countless times safer than ordinary freighters. That's the bottom line of what we've been able to develop."
Hearing that Elrond's transports could follow the American convoys, Papa Lilith finally understood why Elrond dared to open a new import/export trading company at this time when all import/export businesses had been shut down.
Lilith's father glanced at his daughter, who was sitting next to Elrond, and had a mixed feeling in his heart, knowing that if he went to work at Elrond's company, it would be almost the same as agreeing to Lilith's and Elrond's relationship, while his own daughter, who still looked as though she didn't understand a thing, stared blankly at the side of Elrond.In his heart, he had a sense of having a cabbage that had been raised for eighteen years being replaced by a pig in the next house with a bowl of rice. The heart has a feeling of having been raised for eighteen years, and being replaced by the next door family's pig with a bowl of rice.
However, he knew that there was no way he could turn down such a job offer, and now, at this particular time, everyone was looking for a job opportunity, and if he didn't take the job, which paid him two hundred dollars a month, there would immediately be a large number of people, who would rush to send their daughters there to get the job as well.
So, after a moment of contemplation, he said to Elrond, "Elrond, thank you for this opportunity, I will work hard and make sure that the wages you pay, are worth every penny."
"That's good, I'm so happy to have you on the job. With you at the helm of the company for me, I can go out and explore with confidence, I have organized a fleet of transport ships, and now there are three transport ships that run the route from Italy to Brazil. Uncle, after you go to work, seize the time to do some market research, see what is the most scarce and tight in the Italian market now, and we'll specialize in transporting them from Brazil."
Lilith's father was even more surprised when he heard that Elrond had three transport ships, he couldn't imagine that this hairy son-in-law had such strength, he had to be impressed. With this, the two made an appointment to meet under the company's office building at 8:30 tomorrow morning, and Elrond left Lilith's house reluctantly.