Chapter 476
Aubree thought, "Is he telling me to be wary of Alvin? I trust Alvin, and by all rights, I should be the one on guard about him. As Alvin’s uncle, it’s surprising to hear him say this about Alvin. Come to think of it, Alvin has been acting pretty strangely lately. First, he helped Carmen, then he started keeping his distance from me. Later, he went off to study finance, and now he has even taken the initiative to offer me help. I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something important I’m missing here. Still, I should be careful."
"Don’t worry, I will,” she said.
“Okay,” she replied.
Bowen thought of the group from the research institute who had shown up later. “Bree, how did you manage to get in touch with those people?”
That was a tough one to answer for Aubree. She couldn’t exactly tell him it was because she’d time-traveled and had dropped some hints about the projects the institute was working on. Besides, when she first met those people, they nearly mistook her for a spy and tried to arrest her.
“Well, it’s a bit hard to explain. It was kind of a lucky break, really. Anyway, I’ve invested a lot of money in the institute now,” she said, glossing over the details and only mentioning the investment.
Bowen didn’t press her further. “You did well."
“Bree, do you know why the Turner family has been able to maintain its position in Rithol City for so many years? In Rithol City, there are plenty of business owners, and there are always new up-and-comers, but no one has ever been able to truly surpass or replace the Turner family.”
Aubree was genuinely curious about it. Even the Wilson family, which was already a giant in Rithol City, had never been able to surpass the Turner family. No matter how hard Ronald tried, it was as if an invisible chasm separated the Turner family from other businesses. She seemed to have a vague idea of the reason.
“Is it because of their connections?” she asked.
Bowen replied with a slight smile, “You could say that. In the main branch of the Turner family, every generation starts out in business before moving into the military or government. If there’s only one biological son, he inherits the family business. If there are several, one is chosen as the successor, and the rest are usually arranged to enter the military or government. Just knowing a bunch of CEOs or business owners doesn’t really mean much. What’s truly important is securing a good position in power. Alvin is an exception. According to our father’s original plan, he was supposed to follow the same path as my brother. It was only because I promised our father that the Turner family wouldn’t decline as long as I was around that Alvin was allowed to study art."
‘No wonder…’ Aubree thought.
The Turner family was rumored to have been around for a hundred years. For as long as Aubree could remember, there had always been a Turner family in Rithol City – one that nobody in their right mind would ever dare cross. She didn’t know if the whole “century-old family” thing was true, but seeing how Bowen could so easily get the entire King family to back him up today just showed how scary the Turner family’s network really was. In other words, even if the Turners ever met with a disaster, there’d always be powerful people behind the scenes pulling strings to keep them safe.
“So, Bree, do you get it now?” Bowen asked, meeting Aubree’s eyes. She looked back at him and felt a little puzzled.
Bowen let out a low chuckle and reached over to ruffle her hair. “Well, there’s no way you could just copy the Turner family’s path. After all, it’s not like you can clone yourself and go take a position in the government. Just look at what happened today – Bree Technology is already a powerhouse in the business world, on par with any major company out there. You’ve already maxed out your expansion sideways; what matters most now is breaking through to the next level. Your connection with the research institute is your golden ticket to smash through those barriers.”
Aubree got it now. He was telling her to cozy up to those mysterious big shots at the top. She’d already reached a level that most family businesses could only dream of, even after years of hard work.