Chapter 364: Medicinal Milk Tea
Damien Vaughn didn’t take the wealthy woman’s car or phone; he just took the fifty thousand and left.
She’d already said her husband was bothered by his presence, and he wasn’t about to cause any trouble.
If he was going to make a break, it had to be a clean one.
Fifty thousand wasn’t a small amount. If he could find the right investment, he was confident he could get back on his feet quickly.
He didn’t feel the least bit negative. Damien Vaughn walked back, observing the shops along the way, and noticed that the businesses doing best were the coffee shops.
Europeans really did love their coffee.
But some weren’t doing well, like one particular shop along the river.
The shop was spacious and elegantly decorated. There was even a large outdoor area for patio umbrellas and tables, but it was empty. A huge "FOR LEASE" sign was posted on the door.
But that wasn’t what caught his eye. What made him notice this shop immediately was that, besides the English text, the sign also had two Chinese characters spelling out "Lease," which he recognized instantly.
Damien Vaughn immediately pushed open the coffee shop’s door.
The owner, a chubby middle-aged man, was wiping cups at the counter. When he saw Damien Vaughn walk in, he addressed him directly in Chinese.
"Hello, can I get you something to drink? What can I get for you?"
An hour later, thanks to his superb negotiation skills, Damien Vaughn had signed a takeover contract with the owner.
He would keep everything in the shop, and the owner would even share his supplier contacts. He paid the owner thirty thousand upfront, with the remaining fifty thousand to be paid off within three months.
The owner, deeply impressed by the talent Damien had shown, walked him to the door. As they reached it, Damien Vaughn suddenly asked him a question.
"Is there a Chinese medicine practitioner with a good reputation around here? My mother isn’t feeling well. Western medicine hasn’t helped, so I’d like to have her try traditional methods."
The owner wrote down an address for him. Following the slip of paper and asking for directions along the way, Damien Vaughn found the Chinese medicine clinic.
When he returned home, weary from his travels and carrying numerous bags of herbs, Sherry was baffled.
"Why did you buy so many Chinese herbs?"
"An experiment. Sherry, do you like milk tea?"
"Milk tea?"
In Sherry’s memory, that was something from a distant past.
"I love it. But I haven’t had it in years."
"Have you ever heard of ’herbal milk tea’?"
Sherry had been out of touch with the world for years, so of course she hadn’t.
"No, what is it?"
"I’ll make a few flavors for you to try tonight. Come and help me."
Fortunately, the computer Jean had lent him was still there. Damien Vaughn looked up tutorials online, and after a flurry of work with Sherry, they managed to get the flavor just right.
"This is delicious."
Sherry, who hadn’t had milk tea in years, had eyes that practically glowed.
"It’s so fragrant, and it has such a unique flavor. I love it."
His mother also tried a cup and, like a child, clamored for a second.
Damien Vaughn also gave two cups to the owner of their guesthouse, who praised it as well.
"This is delicious! What is it called? Where did you buy it? I’ve never had a tea this unique before."
’Everyone liked it. Looks like this could work,’ he thought.
The next day, Damien Vaughn and Sherry went to the shop.
He had a bold, eye-catching banner made, prepared a hundred cups of the drink, and went out to offer free samples to passersby.
The public’s reaction to the novel and delicious drink was electric, and the promotional buzz was instantly maxed out.
In the President’s Office at Vaughn Group, Cecelia Archer was working when the head of the sales department walked in.
"President Archer, there’s something I need to report. Please take a look at these two overseas trade orders. The clients had already signed contracts with us, but for some reason, the deals were suddenly transferred to another company. I don’t see your signature on the transfer. Were you aware of this?"
Cecelia Archer was not.
She glanced at the contract. The only signature on it was from Damien’s uncle.
"Have you confirmed with the client company? The deals have already been transferred?"
"Yes. I called them as soon as I noticed the discrepancy. They said they’re already coordinating with the new company."
"And Second President Vaughn?"
"I called him to confirm as well. He told me not to worry about it, that he’s currently out of the country, and that we can discuss it when he returns."
"Out of the country? Where did he go?"
"I don’t know. I didn’t dare ask."
"Call his assistant. Find out his itinerary immediately."
The department head called the uncle’s assistant right in front of Cecelia Archer and quickly learned that he had departed for Rivia.
’Rivia?’
’Why would he just hand over our business to someone else? And to a company in Rivia, of all places?’
A bad feeling instantly welled up in Cecelia Archer’s heart.
"I understand. I’ll handle this. You may go."
She immediately called Ryan.
Ryan was still in the midst of searching for Damien Vaughn.
Ever since Damien’s overcoat was discovered in the river, they had been conducting an exhaustive search.
They were going through the small town, checking the residential buildings near the river one by one, door to door.
Damien Vaughn was tall and clearly a foreigner; if he had been seen, he should have left a strong impression on people.
But after more than half a month, they still had no leads.
He was under a lot of pressure, assuming Cecelia Archer was calling to ask for a progress report.
"President Archer."
Cecelia Archer’s tone was grim. "Damien’s uncle has gone to Rivia. According to his flight time, he’ll be landing in about two hours. I need you to get to the airport right this instant and put a tail on him. From now on, split your men into two teams. One continues the search for Damien, the other tracks his uncle. You cannot lose him, do you understand?"
Ryan understood the gravity of the situation and was about to get started. Just as he was about to hang up, Cecelia Archer spoke again.
"Wait. I’m going to Rivia as well. I’ll send you my flight information. Pick me up when I land."
Ryan was taken aback. "President Archer..."
"Don’t try to talk me out of it. I’ve wanted to go for a while now. I just have this feeling that Damien is out there somewhere, waiting for me to find him. It’s been over two months. I can’t wait any longer. I have to go find him myself."
After landing, Damien’s uncle successfully met up with Jean’s husband.
"So where is he? I gave you the contracts, just like you asked. You said you’d keep an eye on him for me. So where is he now?"
At this, Jean’s husband looked a little guilty.
He had been afraid that Damien Vaughn had designs on Jean, so he’d told them to stop working together. He never expected Jean to act so fast, telling Damien they should part ways, and just like that, they went their separate ways.
By the time he had finished extorting the uncle and went back to look for Damien Vaughn, the man had vanished.
He had no ID, so there was no way to check housing records, and he didn’t have a phone.
Although Rivia was no match for oriental Veridia, it still had over two million permanent residents. Finding one person among two million was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
He would do his best to get Jean to help with the search, but for now, the priority was to placate the uncle.
"He’s here, don’t worry, he can’t have gone far. He was working with my wife, and he’s busy with that now. It’s not a good time for you to see him."
"What’s the real story? How did he end up working with your wife?"
The man gave him a rough account of how Damien Vaughn and Jean had met, and the uncle’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
’That damn Damien Vaughn, he’s got the devil’s own luck! He actually survived, got rescued, and is now starting a business in Rivia!’
’Those useless bastards! They take the money but don’t do the job! They even sent me a video confirming they’d thrown him in the lake!’
’At least he’s lost his memory.’
’After I’m done with him, I’ll deal with those incompetent fools!’