967: Chapter 84: The Right Way to Gain Friendship 967: Chapter 84: The Right Way to Gain Friendship “Investing in people is not as simple as just giving soone money to support them,” Snape murmured, “True investnt in people mainly involves befriending a person during their lowest ebb, doing your best to beco their friend, and trying within your ans to help them solve their problems.
You see, people tend to regard friends who extend a hand during their low periods as true friends.
Thus, once the individual has overco their difficulties, they won’t easily forget this friendship and will likely reciprocate as much as they can.
In this way, as an investor, I could receive much more than what I had originally provided.”
“That’s not easy,” Catherine mused, “To do that, you need to first ascertain whether soone is worth your investnt.
Being at a low point indicates that the individual is likely facing hard tis, making it difficult to discern if they hold any investnt value.
Once you’ve chosen your target, you still need to make them believe you want to genuinely befriend them.
Such potentially valuable persons are probably not fools, so deceiving them wouldn’t be that simple.”
“It’s impossible to deceive them,” Snape shook his head and said soberly, “For clever people, it’s quite easy to detect whether soone truly wants to befriend them.
Therefore, the only way to deceive them is to truly, sincerely befriend them.
Only by offering genuine emotions and friendship can you receive the sa sincerity in return.”
“The cost of such an investnt is too great,” Catherine acknowledged with a nod, “It must be difficult for a businessman.”
“Indeed, the cost is significant, but so is the return,” said Snape, stroking his beard, “Once an investnt succeeds, it yields the friendship of influential or high-ranking individuals.
When you have accumulated such friendships, business developnt also becos easier and paths broaden.”
“But I don’t like it, Grandpa Snape,” Catherine shook her head, “I still believe that whether it’s helping others or making friends, there shouldn’t be any ulterior motives.
Once there are motives, the help and feelings involved would be overshadowed.
Of course, this is just my personal opinion.
Perhaps for you, having a motive is necessary, since after all, I am a knight and you are a businessman; our ways of thinking are different.”
“Just don’t like it?” Snape asked sowhat surprised, “I thought you would say you hated it.”
“I am a knight, and I adhere to knightly beliefs and principles, but I have no right to expect everyone to adhere to the sa,” Catherine said with a smile, “As long as it does not contravene justice and fairness, I have no right to criticize others’ principles.
Besides, you haven’t really done anything wrong.
I don’t believe my grandfather would fail to perceive the true nature of your friendship with him.
Since that friendship was genuine, the motives behind it are not so important, right?”
“Ah, you really are a good child,” the old man patted the young girl’s shoulder and sighed, “You, your father, and your grandfather, you three are very much alike, even the things you say are so similar.”
“It seems you’ve ntioned these things to my father and grandfather too,” Catherine said teasingly, “I thought I was the only one who knew.”
“They had the right to know, just as I believe you also need to know now,” the old man seed lost in his mories, murmuring, “When I befriended your grandfather at the bar, we were both not yet twenty.
I had just taken over a small business left by my father, and your grandfather was a Bronze Rank professional just settled in the City of Knowledge from a noble family of the Empire.
Despite still being wealthy, his radical change in status was a tornt for him; depressed because of this, he would frequently spend his days drinking in the tavern.”
“So, that’s where you t Grandpa in the tavern,” Catherine smiled reminiscently, “I’ve heard from my father about how you t Grandpa, who heard it from Grandmother.
She thought that without you, Grandpa might have drowned in his sorrows back then.”
“Not that dramatically.
Your great-grandfather had also just passed away, he was just a bit bewildered by the double blow; even without , he would eventually have climbed out of that low point himself.
I rely hastened that process a bit,” Snape chuckled, “When I first t your grandfather, I was a bit curious about him.
After learning his story through other channels, I decided he was worth investing in, so I began to build a friendship with him step by step, drawing closer and closer until he eventually realized his situation and got back on his feet.”
“My grandmother was grateful to you until her passing for that,” Catherine shared, “She was very worried about Grandpa back then, and since he didn’t really listen to her, all she could do was worry silently.”
“Heh, I know that too.
I could tell at the ti that she was trying various ways to help your grandfather climb out of his slump,” Snape said, “After he recovered, he did not join in business but focused on improving his own strength.
Although I don’t know much about that, I believe he might be a very promising professional like you, perhaps even a genius.
He rose from a Bronze Rank professional to a Demigod in just thirteen years.
The day he beca a Demigod, I was petrified.
Although by then my business had begun to expand significantly, aiming to impact the world through comrcial activities, I had never before encountered a Demigod, soone at the pinnacle of Yarran World, nor even considered it.”
“I can imagine,” Catherine quietly glanced at Pannis, who had just teased a Horned Eagle Beast and was now being chased across the deck by a dozen of them, rubbing her forehead with a pained expression, yet her smile filled with warmth, “Before contact, it always feels like Demigods are beings from another world.
But once you truly get to know them, you realize they are just ‘people’ like us, no different except in strength.” (To be continued.
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