Chapter 33: Fundraising Event
_
The so-called high-fructose corn syrup is actually a very common sweetener in the food processing industry that gradually replaced sucrose in the future.
This type of sugar did not appear until after the 1950s.
But its process is not complicated.
The most important things are two substances: amylase and glucose isomerase.
The former was extracted in the 1930s but was not commercialized. The latter was not discovered until the 1950s.
But Josh only needed the former because the latter mainly converts glucose in the syrup into fructose, increasing the syrup’s sweetness.
Only the former plays a role in hydrolyzing starch to produce syrup.
He knew about these two things because of the unfortunate brother who asked him to drink before he transmigrated. He worked in the raw material processing industry for fast-moving products. Actually, he was a supplier of raw materials for milk tea shops.
He helped out in his spare time, so he had some understanding of this.
However, Josh is not involved in biological research, so he definitely cannot produce the enzyme necessary for the saccharification process and, therefore, cannot produce fructose syrup himself.
But it doesn’t matter. Someone else can do this kind of work.
Chicago is the educational center of the Midwest, with as many as 19 standard four-year colleges and universities, including famous institutions such as the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois, as well as many research institutes.
It is not difficult to find some professionals in this field.
“Since you are confident, go ahead and do it. Just tell me how much money you need!” After Josh shared his plan, Margaret said.
“However, since you want to start a business, it’s necessary to interact more with some influential people. Yesterday, Uncle John sent me an invitation to a fundraising event. I wasn’t planning on going, but since you’re starting a business now, let’s go together! I’ll introduce you to some people who will be helpful for your business.”
By the way, Josh has been with Margaret for a while, but she has never taken him on such occasions.
It’s not because Josh is not presentable.
In fact, after her father passed away, she rarely attended such parties.
At first, it was because someone always talked bad about Tony Wendys in her ear, and she didn’t like it. She even fought with some of her old girlfriends because of it.
And when she later found out that all these bad things were true, she didn’t want to attend such occasions anymore… because she was afraid of losing face.
In addition, after the entanglement with David Leibler, she didn’t want to go even more, so she didn’t mention it.
But if Josh wants to start a factory business, he’ll need all kinds of connections. So it’s very necessary to attend this reception.
So she brought it up.
“Oh? What kind of event is it?” Josh couldn’t help but ask.
“It’s a war bond fundraising reception hosted by the city government. Uncle John is the leader, and all the famous people in Chicago will attend!” Margaret said.
Josh was interested in this reception.
“Will it cause you any trouble?” In fact, he has never seen such a high-end reception in both his past and present lives.
“What trouble can there be? It’s also a good opportunity to let those people know I’m doing well now.” Margaret smiled gently.
“What do I need to be careful about?” Josh asked.
“Be handsome!”
***
Soon, the weekend arrived.
Josh and Margaret, who had carefully dressed up, arrived on time at the venue of the reception, the luxurious estate of the Leibler family.
When they arrived, there were already many guests in the estate, and the yard was filled with various luxury cars of the period. Compared to those cars, the maroon Lincoln Continental driven by Josh today was somewhat inconspicuous.
Of course, if the Cadillac V16 in the system repository were taken out, it would still be eye-catching.
But it wasn’t time yet.
Although Josh had already entered Chicago’s high society by getting close to Margaret, a wealthy woman, it was still not enough to ensure his safety.
After all, those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. When those Italian savages go crazy, they even dare to plan assassinations against the president.
Therefore, until he had enough self-protection ability, the car could only be treated as a personal collection.
Fortunately, the system space was time-stopped, so there was no worry about the car being poorly maintained.
After Margaret handed the invitation to the waiter at the door to be checked, the two entered the venue hall unimpeded.
“Hey, Margo, long time no see!” Upon entering the venue, Margaret was recognized by an acquaintance.
This is a beautiful and wealthy woman of similar age to Margaret.
“Long time no see, Carol!” Margaret greeted the other person warmly, and it was obvious that the two of them were familiar with each other.
Then, under Margaret’s apologetic gaze, Carol pulled her aside to talk in private.
Josh couldn’t participate in or interfere with such private conversations between women. He could only look around to ease his embarrassment and grab a drink from a passing waiter’s tray.
Josh didn’t like drinking, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t drink. He had tried it before, and his alcohol tolerance was average.
“What should I call you?” At that moment, a middle-aged man with an elegant temperament walked up to Josh and asked.
“Josh, Josh Kane!” Josh introduced himself.
“Patrick Ches, Carol is my wife!” The man introduced himself and then pointed to Carol, who was talking to Margaret.
Josh suddenly realized why another person had come up to talk to him.
Soon, the two of them chatted with each other. Still, since they were not familiar with each other, they could not discuss overly private matters. Thus, the topic quickly turned to the current war situation. This was a normal topic that men liked to discuss, especially since it was a war bond fundraising reception. It was quite appropriate to discuss the war as a topic.
However, it was precisely because of this conversation that Josh left a deep impression on Patrick, who had originally dismissed him as an ordinary conversationalist.
Patrick was now the owner of a department store in Chicago. Still, during World War I, he had served as a logistics officer in the military, so he was not a complete outsider when it came to military matters.
In their conversation, some of Josh’s judgments about the current war situation were quite fresh to him.
“Josh, it’s such a pity that with your insights, you don’t join the military and make a contribution!” Patrick exclaimed.
Josh rolled his eyes inwardly at this.
Join the military? This body was just a high school (ninth-grade) dropout. What could he do in the military? Go to the front lines and carry shells?
Although during World War II, due to the rapid expansion of the military, not just anyone could become an officer, and even the better military branches had high educational requirements. For example, the Air Force and Navy required at least a high school diploma.
Therefore, if Josh were to join the military now, he would only be able to serve as an ordinary infantryman.
Moreover, Josh had no intention of joining the military at all. Was he crazy enough to go and sell his life to this emotionless country?
Isn’t it much more comfortable to sleep with a rich woman?
“Mr. Ches, Josh is not yet 16 years old. He is far from being of military age!” Margaret, who had just finished talking with Carol, walked over and heard Patrick’s words, immediately took Josh’s arm, and protested dissatisfiedly.
Hearing Margaret’s words, Patrick was taken aback.
Looking at Josh again, he did seem a bit immature. However, Josh’s tall stature, calm personality, and good insights had made him overlook this.
But he was only 16 years old… Patrick shook his head. He looked at Josh again and then at the mature and glamorous Margaret.
Tsk tsk…
Fortunately, the laws were not so strict in this era, and such situations were not uncommon among the upper class.
If it were the 21st century, Margaret might have been prosecuted and sent to jail…
Chapter 33: Fundraising Event
_
The so-called high-fructose corn syrup is actually a very common sweetener in the food processing industry that gradually replaced sucrose in the future.
This type of sugar did not appear until after the 1950s.
But its process is not complicated.
The most important things are two substances: amylase and glucose isomerase.
The former was extracted in the 1930s but was not commercialized. The latter was not discovered until the 1950s.
But Josh only needed the former because the latter mainly converts glucose in the syrup into fructose, increasing the syrup’s sweetness.
Only the former plays a role in hydrolyzing starch to produce syrup.
He knew about these two things because of the unfortunate brother who asked him to drink before he transmigrated. He worked in the raw material processing industry for fast-moving products. Actually, he was a supplier of raw materials for milk tea shops.
He helped out in his spare time, so he had some understanding of this.
However, Josh is not involved in biological research, so he definitely cannot produce the enzyme necessary for the saccharification process and, therefore, cannot produce fructose syrup himself.
But it doesn’t matter. Someone else can do this kind of work.
Chicago is the educational center of the Midwest, with as many as 19 standard four-year colleges and universities, including famous institutions such as the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois, as well as many research institutes.
It is not difficult to find some professionals in this field.
“Since you are confident, go ahead and do it. Just tell me how much money you need!” After Josh shared his plan, Margaret said.
“However, since you want to start a business, it’s necessary to interact more with some influential people. Yesterday, Uncle John sent me an invitation to a fundraising event. I wasn’t planning on going, but since you’re starting a business now, let’s go together! I’ll introduce you to some people who will be helpful for your business.”
By the way, Josh has been with Margaret for a while, but she has never taken him on such occasions.
It’s not because Josh is not presentable.
In fact, after her father passed away, she rarely attended such parties.
At first, it was because someone always talked bad about Tony Wendys in her ear, and she didn’t like it. She even fought with some of her old girlfriends because of it.
And when she later found out that all these bad things were true, she didn’t want to attend such occasions anymore… because she was afraid of losing face.
In addition, after the entanglement with David Leibler, she didn’t want to go even more, so she didn’t mention it.
But if Josh wants to start a factory business, he’ll need all kinds of connections. So it’s very necessary to attend this reception.
So she brought it up.
“Oh? What kind of event is it?” Josh couldn’t help but ask.
“It’s a war bond fundraising reception hosted by the city government. Uncle John is the leader, and all the famous people in Chicago will attend!” Margaret said.
Josh was interested in this reception.
“Will it cause you any trouble?” In fact, he has never seen such a high-end reception in both his past and present lives.
“What trouble can there be? It’s also a good opportunity to let those people know I’m doing well now.” Margaret smiled gently.
“What do I need to be careful about?” Josh asked.
“Be handsome!”
***
Soon, the weekend arrived.
Josh and Margaret, who had carefully dressed up, arrived on time at the venue of the reception, the luxurious estate of the Leibler family.
When they arrived, there were already many guests in the estate, and the yard was filled with various luxury cars of the period. Compared to those cars, the maroon Lincoln Continental driven by Josh today was somewhat inconspicuous.
Of course, if the Cadillac V16 in the system repository were taken out, it would still be eye-catching.
But it wasn’t time yet.
Although Josh had already entered Chicago’s high society by getting close to Margaret, a wealthy woman, it was still not enough to ensure his safety.
After all, those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. When those Italian savages go crazy, they even dare to plan assassinations against the president.
Therefore, until he had enough self-protection ability, the car could only be treated as a personal collection.
Fortunately, the system space was time-stopped, so there was no worry about the car being poorly maintained.
After Margaret handed the invitation to the waiter at the door to be checked, the two entered the venue hall unimpeded.
“Hey, Margo, long time no see!” Upon entering the venue, Margaret was recognized by an acquaintance.
This is a beautiful and wealthy woman of similar age to Margaret.
“Long time no see, Carol!” Margaret greeted the other person warmly, and it was obvious that the two of them were familiar with each other.
Then, under Margaret’s apologetic gaze, Carol pulled her aside to talk in private.
Josh couldn’t participate in or interfere with such private conversations between women. He could only look around to ease his embarrassment and grab a drink from a passing waiter’s tray.
Josh didn’t like drinking, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t drink. He had tried it before, and his alcohol tolerance was average.
“What should I call you?” At that moment, a middle-aged man with an elegant temperament walked up to Josh and asked.
“Josh, Josh Kane!” Josh introduced himself.
“Patrick Ches, Carol is my wife!” The man introduced himself and then pointed to Carol, who was talking to Margaret.
Josh suddenly realized why another person had come up to talk to him.
Soon, the two of them chatted with each other. Still, since they were not familiar with each other, they could not discuss overly private matters. Thus, the topic quickly turned to the current war situation. This was a normal topic that men liked to discuss, especially since it was a war bond fundraising reception. It was quite appropriate to discuss the war as a topic.
However, it was precisely because of this conversation that Josh left a deep impression on Patrick, who had originally dismissed him as an ordinary conversationalist.
Patrick was now the owner of a department store in Chicago. Still, during World War I, he had served as a logistics officer in the military, so he was not a complete outsider when it came to military matters.
In their conversation, some of Josh’s judgments about the current war situation were quite fresh to him.
“Josh, it’s such a pity that with your insights, you don’t join the military and make a contribution!” Patrick exclaimed.
Josh rolled his eyes inwardly at this.
Join the military? This body was just a high school (ninth-grade) dropout. What could he do in the military? Go to the front lines and carry shells?
Although during World War II, due to the rapid expansion of the military, not just anyone could become an officer, and even the better military branches had high educational requirements. For example, the Air Force and Navy required at least a high school diploma.
Therefore, if Josh were to join the military now, he would only be able to serve as an ordinary infantryman.
Moreover, Josh had no intention of joining the military at all. Was he crazy enough to go and sell his life to this emotionless country?
Isn’t it much more comfortable to sleep with a rich woman?
“Mr. Ches, Josh is not yet 16 years old. He is far from being of military age!” Margaret, who had just finished talking with Carol, walked over and heard Patrick’s words, immediately took Josh’s arm, and protested dissatisfiedly.
Hearing Margaret’s words, Patrick was taken aback.
Looking at Josh again, he did seem a bit immature. However, Josh’s tall stature, calm personality, and good insights had made him overlook this.
But he was only 16 years old… Patrick shook his head. He looked at Josh again and then at the mature and glamorous Margaret.
Tsk tsk…
Fortunately, the laws were not so strict in this era, and such situations were not uncommon among the upper class.
If it were the 21st century, Margaret might have been prosecuted and sent to jail…
