[Chapter 118]
"Mr. Crawford, when your banquet is over, please, come up and join us to discuss the issues I mentioned earlier."
Wesley then warmly shook hands with Gerald.
When the young man waved his hands, he couldn't help but wonder how many companies would rise overnight in Mayberry City.
Mayberry City's economy had already improved significantly.
It was all because Gerald signed his name a few times.
He was a young man of such power and stature, yet, never one to be pretentious or showy, from the very beginning to the end.
He remained polite to everyone around him.
Rare! This was really rare!
After he was done talking, Wesley left the room with everyone else.
The room was all but dead silent at this time. Nobody spoke a word, all looking toward Gerald with open mouths.
George and his wife thought to themselves.
They had initially thought that Charles was the greatest man around, albeit a little arrogant.
However, now, it seemed the really powerful person turned out to be this young man standing in front of them!
"Gerald, what did they call you? Did they just address you as Mr. Crawford?"
Jacelyn swallowed hard.
Alice looked at Gerald in shock as well.
"It is just a title!" Gerald replied with a slight smile.
He really didn't want to appear to be pretentious or ostentatious. Seeing how things had turned out, Gerald could not help but feel a little embarrassed.
"Could Gerald be the Mr. Crawford from the Mayberry Commercial Street?"
"Mr. Crawford? The Mr. Crawford from Mayberry Commercial Street? It seems it's the only reason Mr. Harrison has been so respectful toward him, right?""Impossible. How could this be? How could Gerald possibly be so rich?"
Everyone continued speculating, but Jacelyn, on the other hand, was simply in utter disbelief.
If this was indeed the truth, she really wanted to die!
"Thank you for your hospitality, Uncle and Auntie Bradford. This incident occurred thanks to the birthday party of my good brother's girlfriend. Allow me to deal with it on your behalf. Please excuse me. I'll be retiring to my room upstairs."
From the way he had been stared at, Gerald would have been very uncomfortable if he stayed any longer.
So he took this opportunity to slip away.
Gerald neither confirmed or denied anything when they asked if he was Mr. Crawford from the Mayberry Commercial Street.
After leaving the room, Gerald called Zack, asking him to come forward as a mediator to deal with the matter.
Zack quickly followed suit.
"Alice, could you have been mistaken? Didn't you say he was a player?" George asked with a hint of regret.
If he had known this was the truth, he wouldn't have mocked and satirized him.
Earlier, when Wesley bowed a little to George, he was so excited that he almost peed his pants!
Alice Muttered to herself. "Impossible! There has to be something hidden behind all this. How could Gerald possibly be the Mr. Crawford from Mayberry Commercial Street? To make matters worse, we even offended the Rye family this time. How could Gerald have possibly settled this with one word?!"
Undoubtedly, the knowledge of this matter had taken a tremendous toll on whoever was listening.
Then, George's cell phone suddenly rang.
He was surprised when he saw the number.
"It's me. It's me. Hello? Okay! Okay! Okay! Huh? What did you say? …that's great! Thank you. Thank you so much!"
George hung up in excitement.
Everyone looked at him.
"Alice, this time, we have really met a very noble person. Seriously! Gerald… no, Mr. Crawford is really our benefactor! A senior from the Bureau of Commerce just called to tell me that a very powerful and influential person had just come forward. The matter has been resolved successfully!" said George.
Alice slumped weakly into her chair when she heard this.
Everything was really linked to Gerald. He was indeed very powerful!
But what was going on? Who was this Gerald?
Everyone had lingering doubts in their hearts.
Gerald was already upstairs in his room. He had called Zack to help the people from Hayley's dormitory, both Alice and Jacelyn's families. He didn't care for Chad and Danny, though, and did not want to care for them. What did they have to do with him anyway?
Gerald thought no more about the matter. After entering the room, he continued drinking with Wesley and the others.
As for the essential matters that Wesley spoke about, he was simply hoping that Gerald would be able to attend the opening ceremony on the day the major entertainment establishments opened.
Since it wasn't an issue, Gerald agreed immediately.
It was almost eleven o'clock when Gerald returned to the campus.
He was lying on his bed but kept tossing and turning around as he found himself unable to sleep.
"Ding! Ding!"
Notifications rang on Gerald's cell phone, one after the other.
"Gerald, Gerald… are you asleep yet? Let's meet up early tomorrow morning at our school's west cafeteria! I have something important to tell you! You don't need to reply to this!"
At first glance, it was a text message from Mila.