Chapter 4271 Chapter 4273 [Times have changed]
During the Great Depression, none of the Hockley family's steel mills was spared. The stock price plummeted, the market shrank, and sales dropped significantly, resulting in insolvency and forced bankruptcy.
Carl Hockley could not bear the fact that he had fallen from a wealthy family to a pauper, and finally chose to shoot himself. The whole family also fell apart, leaving only Trudy.
Trudy is still relatively strong. He did not die, but survived with difficulty.
Fortunately, she was born as a maid. Although she has lived the life of a rich wife for more than ten years, her basic skills have not fallen behind and she can still do what she can.
After Rose learned about Carl's death, she went to find Trudy and saw that she was renting in a small attic and barely making ends meet by mending clothes for others.
Fortunately, she was alone and had no children to raise. Otherwise, life would have been even more difficult.
Rose left Trudy some money so that she could live a better life.
Xiang Nan bought the Heart of the Ocean diamond that Karl used to pay off his debt.
He originally bought this diamond as a wedding gift for Rose.
But Rose knew that he didn't do that because he loved her, he just treated her as a pet dog, dressed up beautifully so that he could take her out to meet guests.
That's why Rose called it a "dog leash" because she thought she wouldn't be able to breathe after wearing it.
Because of this, when she eloped with Xiang Nan later, she left the diamond necklace to Karl and had no intention of taking it with her.
But it’s different now.
This diamond no longer belongs to Karl, but was bought by Xiang Nan.
He then gave the diamond to Rose, "Now it is no longer a dog leash, but a testimony of our love. Only such a beautiful necklace can be worthy of your peerless beauty."
Rose also happily accepted the necklace.
…
Subsequently, Xiang Nan and Rose settled in Los Angeles.
They bought the mansion that originally belonged to William Fox, the owner of Fox Film Company.
This Fox Film Company is the predecessor of Twentieth Century Fox.
William Fox was a very shrewd and capable businessman. He started from scratch and spent twelve years developing from a small production company to a studio covering an area of 300 acres and more than 600 movie theaters. of super giants.
In all of Hollywood, he is regarded as the leading movie tycoon.
But it was a pity that he had bad luck. He was injured in a car accident. He was later investigated and monopolized by the Ministry of Justice. He also lost most of his net worth during the Great Depression, which led to him being imprisoned.
As a result, his mansion was sold to pay off debts. Xiang Nan bought the mansion for a small price.
Shortly after buying it, Rose became pregnant and gave birth to a son ten months later.
Xiang Nan named him John Dawson.
In the next few years, Xiang Nan spent time at home with his wife and son. He also built a foundry by himself, where he hammered and tinkled all day long.
Five years later, he successfully reproduced Ravenclaw's diadem, Hufflepuff's golden cup and the time-turner.
In fact, in the world of "Harry Potter", he had already made replicas of Ravenclaw's crown and Hufflepuff's golden cup, but he just didn't bring them out.
The time converter is actually less difficult to make than the crown and the gold cup. Because the Ministry of Magic has many Time-Turners, but only one Coronet and Gold Cup.
Xiang Nan once received a time turner from the Ministry of Magic, so he knew it very well. Now it is naturally not difficult to copy it. With these three magic props, Xiang Nan is even more powerful.
Ravenclaw's crown can increase his wisdom; Hufflepuff's golden cup can provide him with food. Although he no longer needs to eat, as the saying goes, he can never tire of fine food and fine food. Who would think that he eats well?
The time turner is even more incredible. It can allow people to go back to the past. Although the time is limited, it can only go back five hours, otherwise serious mistakes may occur.
But for Xiang Nan, it takes five hours to fly from the United States to China, so five hours is definitely enough.
…
After that, as John grew up, Rose gradually let go.
She began to pursue her own life.
She learned to fly, paint and sculpt, held her own art exhibition, learned to surf and sail...
While Xiang Nan accompanies her, he also engages in investments and collections.
At the beginning of the 20th century, many masters emerged in the history of art.
Like Picasso, Cezanne, Monet, Matisse, Pollock, Klimt, Mondrian, etc., their works each have their own merits and styles. They are not only famous in the contemporary era, but also have far-reaching influence.
Xiang Nan has collected many of their works, not for investment, but to prepare to bring them back to the real world.
A few years later, World War II broke out.
Although the continental United States was not affected by the war, it also entered a stage of material control due to the war. The supply of food, fuel, cloth, sugar, coffee, milk, and even car tires must be restricted.
Even a wealthy family like Xiang Nan is no exception.
But fortunately, he has Hufflepuff's golden cup. If he wants to eat anything, he can just tell the golden cup.
Roast chicken, steak, lamb chops, cakes, puddings, bread, red wine, rum, whiskey...everything is available. There is even Chinese food, if you want to eat sweet and sour pork, Buddha jumps over the wall, Mapo tofu, and West Lake vinegar fish.
Helga Hufflepuff was not only a powerful wizard, but also very good at food magic. The food served in the Hogwarts cafeteria is based on the menu she left behind.
She also included this menu in her golden cup, so her golden cup could produce so many delicious foods.
When Xiang Nan created the Jinbei, he also added his own menu to it.
He knows even more menus, such as imperial cuisine, Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine, as well as Indian cuisine, Japanese cuisine, French cuisine, Italian cuisine, Mexican cuisine...
It can be said that this golden cup is a treasure trove of food. You can eat whatever you want, so their family does not have the problem of lack of supplies and lives very well.
…
In 1945, World War II ended, and John was fifteen years old.
During this period, under the guidance of Xiang Nan, he was not only smart but also very educated and worked very hard.
He is also very popular with his classmates at school.
After all, he inherited Jack and Rose's good looks and has been a handsome boy since he was a child.
At the age of fifteen, after repeatedly skipping grades, he was successfully admitted to the California Institute of Technology to engage in aeronautics research.
Xiang Nan is naturally very happy for his son's achievement.
John is also very grateful for his father's teachings. If he had not cultivated his interest in science since childhood, he would not have been so fascinated by science and embarked on the path of scientific research.