Chapter 582 - 381: Is That All? That’s All

Chapter 582: Chapter 381: Is That All? That’s All

Ronan walked in front and entered the main house.

The decor of the main house didn’t seem particularly luxurious, which once again shattered Li Wei’s fantasy that the Mellon family’s main estate should look like a resplendent Imperial Palace.

As soon as Ronan entered, three servants appeared as if they had just spawned in. One carried a glass of water, another held a pair of slippers, and the third offered a hot towel.

Ronan casually kicked off his shoes, slipped on the slippers, wiped his hands and face with the hot towel, and took a sip of water.

"Come on," he said to Li Wei. "Lunch should be ready."

They had a simple lunch in a side hall next to the main house.

The dining table wasn’t large—a round table meant for four—and it was set with only two pairs of cutlery. The dishes served were completely different for each of them. Ronan Mellon’s meal was mostly light and vegetarian, while Li Wei’s included a massive steak paired with an unlabelled bottle of red wine.

Ronan ate slowly and methodically, not speaking much.

Since Li Wei had nothing much to talk about either, he treated the visit as just a simple meal.

If there was anything unusual, it was that Ronan would naturally pause after finishing each dish. At these exact moments, the servants would suddenly appear like NPCs in a video game and clear away the empty plates.

When Ronan was mostly finished, he set down his knife and fork, picked up his wine glass, and swirled the red wine.

"You have a good relationship with Elizabeth," he stated, his tone as casual as if he were remarking on the nice weather.

"Yes." Li Wei put down his knife and fork. "We’re very good friends."

Ronan nodded. "You should know about the Free Port."

"I know a bit." Li Wei didn’t deny it, nor did he elaborate.

"The New York Times will publish a report soon," Ronan said calmly, wiping his mouth. "There might be some changes when that happens. Alexander is getting old. Once the New York Times report comes out, it’ll be time for him to retire. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation needs a new Sect Leader."

He glanced at Li Wei. "Based on the Free Port’s shares and voting seats, Elizabeth will take over."

Li Wei was taken aback and couldn’t help but look at Ronan. "Alexander Mellon won’t retire peacefully," he pointed out. "Besides, Elizabeth is second in line, but she’s only twenty years old."

"He will retire," Ronan replied. "As for Elizabeth’s age," he paused with the wine glass near his lips, "that’s entirely irrelevant."

After saying that, he took a sip of wine, as if the statement needed no further explanation.

Li Wei stared at Ronan for a couple of seconds. "What if she can’t keep them in line?" he asked. "Timothy, Alister, Beatrice... none of them are easy to deal with. Elizabeth is their junior, not to mention Alexander’s loyal veterans."

Ronan set down his wine glass and gave Li Wei a look. "I don’t care."

Li Wei thought Ronan was going to add something else, but after waiting for a few seconds, he realized Ronan truly, literally didn’t care. He genuinely didn’t care who would ultimately win the internal power struggle within Alexander’s faction.

"Then why did you call me here?" Li Wei asked directly. "What is this really about?"

At those words, a faint smile finally touched the corners of Ronan Mellon’s mouth.

He thought for a moment, looking at Li Wei. "You invented the LW beverage at twenty and have accomplished so much. You’re very smart. You’ve been probing me since we first started chatting," he chuckled. "What did you think I called you here for? Why would I have my secretary give you the green light with the military?"

Li Wei frowned in thought. "You can’t just be optimistic about my future and want to invest in me, right?"

"Why does it have to be so complicated?" Ronan Mellon smiled again. "Why couldn’t I simply be curious about you and want to see you in person?"

"It’s that simple?" Li Wei countered.

"It’s that simple," Ronan said.

"But... the military orders are worth at least billions of USD a year," Li Wei said. "You’re just giving me such a massive benefit for no reason at all?"

"Why not?" Ronan retorted. "Whether it’s hundreds of millions of USD or billions of USD, do you really think I need to calculate the returns when I do things like this?" He shook his head. "That would be far too exhausting, and far too boring."

Li Wei was speechless.

Although this sudden windfall felt a bit surreal, he had a sneaking suspicion it was true. The truth was that Ronan Mellon didn’t care who ended up running the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, nor did he care about what he stood to gain from helping Li Wei secure the orders.

Just as he had said, Ronan Mellon really just seemed curious. He found Li Wei interesting and wanted to meet him.

"Well, now that you’ve seen me," Li Wei asked, "what do you think of me?"

"Not bad," Ronan picked up his wine glass and took a sip. "Feels pretty good."

It was unclear whether he was talking about the red wine or Li Wei.

After a short while, he put down his wine glass and casually grabbed a towel to wipe his mouth.

"Come," he said. "Let’s take a walk. I’ll show you my collection."

Ronan led Li Wei down a long corridor. At the far end of the main house, servants pushed open a heavy oak door for them.

Behind the door lay a massive room, comparable in size to the main hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The four walls were covered in oil paintings, ranging from the Renaissance to Impressionism and contemporary abstract art—it had it all.

In the center of the room stood several rows of display shelves, lined with all sorts of antiques.

Ronan walked ahead without offering any introductions or explanations, much like a gamer showing off his Steam library.

Li Wei casually browsed the collection as they walked, until he suddenly stopped in his tracks beside a glass display cabinet near the window.

Neatly arranged inside the cabinet were over a dozen decorative eggs. Each egg was unique in size, craftsmanship, and color. Some featured enamel, others were inlaid with gold wire or encrusted with jewels, yet every single base bore the exact same engraving.

Fabergé Eggs!

"Are these all authentic?" Li Wei couldn’t help but ask.

"Of course." Ronan glanced at them casually and nodded.

"But as far as I know, the Kremlin Palace only has ten, and it’s already the largest single collection in the world," Li Wei said.

"Oh," Ronan nodded. "Then the Kremlin Palace is exaggerating."

He noticed Li Wei’s gaze lingering on the display cabinet.

"You like these?" he said casually. "Pick one you like and take it with you."

Li Wei looked at Ronan Mellon in considerable shock.

"Just one of these is worth tens of millions of USD," Li Wei pointed out.

Ronan Mellon finally couldn’t hold back a soft chuckle. "I know. So?" He waved dismissively. "If you like it, just take one. I’m planning to take a nap."

...

Even when Li Wei boarded the helicopter, holding a box containing a Fabergé Egg, he was still in a bit of a daze, completely oblivious to what Ronan was really trying to do.

When he arrived, he had been on high alert, fully expecting a battle. Instead, he got a free meal and left with a Fabergé Egg worth tens of millions of USD.

Regardless, at least for now, everything seemed to be good news for Li Wei.

He had obtained a Fabergé Egg just like that.

The military orders were sorted out by Ronan Mellon.

And Elizabeth taking charge of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation had been unilaterally decided by Ronan as well.

"But the fallout is going to be a bit troublesome," Li Wei muttered to himself. "The other family members definitely won’t agree... Maybe Ronan is just waiting to watch the drama unfold?"

He wondered, "Can I perhaps trigger a quest out of this?"

Boarding the private jet waiting at the Pittsburgh International Airport, Li Wei flew back to New York.

"I had lunch with Ronan Mellon," Li Wei said over the phone to Don Quixote. "He handled the military orders on a whim."

"Did he make any demands?" Don Quixote asked.

"No." Li Wei paused. "He didn’t ask for anything at all."

"Tell me the details when you get back," Don Quixote said. "What exactly is Ronan Mellon thinking?"

"I’m going to see Liz first," Li Wei said. "There are some things regarding her grandfather that I need to discuss with her."

"Alexander Mellon?" Don Quixote asked. "Will this affect our Free Port business?"

"Logically, it shouldn’t." Li Wei frowned. "But... whatever, I’ll go confirm it in person."