"Mr. Boger?"
Looking up to see the newcomer, Carter was somewhat surprised.
This old man, when they met yesterday, his state wasn't exactly good, and Carter also noticed that he seemed quite disinterested when Julian invited him yesterday. Yet today, not only was he the first to arrive, but he also wore a faint smile on his face.
"Good evening! From your expression tonight, it seems like you've resolved the issue that was troubling you?"
"Hahaha, you're perceptive! Unfortunately, not yet, but there has been some progress. Thank you for your concern. Shouldn't you shake hands with me first?"
Boger chuckled and winked teasingly at Carter. Obviously, Boger noticed Carter's awkwardness in handling social interactions and didn't mind giving him a few pointers in Julian's absence.
"Oh, sorry! That was my mistake, and I apologize for my negligence!"
The intricacies of handshake etiquette were well-known to many. For instance, who should extend their hand first, or whether age or gender should take precedence. Carter knew that as the host of the banquet, he should extend his right hand to the guests first.
However, knowing and executing were two different things, especially when such formal occasions were rare. Coupled with Carter's age, in most cases, he was the one on the receiving end of handshakes, so suddenly being the initiator was a bit perplexing.
"No need to be polite; we were all young once. Back in the day, my performance wasn't as good as yours when I first assisted Mr. Walter Morgan at a banquet, and I was already a college graduate then."
After shaking Carter's extended hand, Boger looked at him kindly, seeing Carter hastily stuffing the guest list back into his pocket.
"Besides, today I arrived early, so it was impolite of me. Let's call it even, shall we? Hahaha!"
Facing Boger's efforts to smooth things over, Carter felt a bit at a loss for words. All he could do was chuckle in response.
"By the way, yesterday, Julian mentioned that you're his largest investor. I've been curious about your exact age ever since. Would you mind satisfying my curiosity?"
"Of course, it's not a secret. I'm 17 now, turning 18 in half a year!"
"Wow, you startled me a bit, kid! So, you're still in high school?"
Boger's surprise seemed genuine, mixed with a tinge of nostalgia:
"I thought my achievements at a young age were remarkable, but I never expected this."
"Haha, Mr. Boger, you flatter me! Julian introduced you to me yesterday, and I was already envious of you as a Princeton graduate! Frankly, I'm struggling to get into an Ivy League school myself!"
The more formal the banquet, the more utilitarian it tended to be. Boger's changes and his enthusiastic conversation with Carter, although not very obvious, made Carter feel like Boger had some thoughts about him in certain aspects.
But as the saying goes, Carter didn't mind others using him. After all, aren't social relationships fundamentally about mutual use?
Therefore, when Carter noticed that Boger seemed somewhat down and out, he couldn't help but consider leveraging Boger's Princeton graduate status for a recommendation letter.
"As a matter of fact, even if you come from a humble background, getting into an Ivy League school shouldn't be too difficult for you, right? You don't strike me as someone lacking in intelligence, and I assume the SAT exam wouldn't pose much difficulty for you!"
"What SAT? Hey, Carter, it's been a while! Why do you look even more handsome? Oh, you change your looks every year; how am I going to keep up in the future?!"
Taking a cue from Boger's experience, this time Carter quickly extended his right hand to the newcomer. As they shook hands, Carter also gave him a light hug. After all, Jim Rogers and he were old travel buddies; it was just that Carter was the less serious one.
"Thank you for the gift you sent me last year; I loved it! Here, let me introduce you to Mr. John Boger!"
"Haha, Mr. Boger? The one from Wellington? Your reputation precedes you; I've always wanted to meet you!"
"Wellington is a thing of the past. I'd rather be known as 'Boger, the Vanguard.' Nice to meet you, Mr. Rogers; your name is equally renowned to me!"
"Hahaha, 'Boger, the Vanguard,' good evening! By the way, what were you two just talking about? Mind if I join in? I heard something about the SAT, is it the academic aptitude test?"
As they exchanged greetings and pleasantries, Rogers brought up their previous conversation to smoothly integrate himself into the conversation.
"Exactly, that's the one! Carter, please excuse my informality."
"No problem at all, Carter is just fine. My friends call me that!"
"Haha, okay. Mr. Rogers, Carter and I were discussing university matters earlier. Carter will be taking the SAT exam next year and applying to colleges."