Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 967 - 84: The Right Way to Gain Friendship

Chapter 967: Chapter 84: The Right Way to Gain Friendship

"Investing in people is not as simple as just giving someone money to support them," Snape murmured, "True investment in people mainly involves befriending a person during their lowest ebb, doing your best to become their friend, and trying within your means 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 overcome 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 someone is worth your investment. Being at a low point indicates that the individual is likely facing hard times, making it difficult to discern if they hold any investment 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 someone 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 same sincerity in return."

"The cost of such an investment 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 investment succeeds, it yields the friendship of influential or high-ranking individuals. When you have accumulated such friendships, business development also becomes 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 somewhat 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 same," 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 mentioned 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 seemed lost in his memories, 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 torment for him; depressed because of this, he would frequently spend his days drinking in the tavern."

"So, that’s where you met Grandpa in the tavern," Catherine smiled reminiscently, "I’ve heard from my father about how you met 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 me, he would eventually have climbed out of that low point himself. I merely hastened that process a bit," Snape chuckled, "When I first met 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 time that she was trying various ways to help your grandfather climb out of his slump," Snape said, "After he recovered, he did not join me 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 became a Demigod, I was petrified. Although by then my business had begun to expand significantly, aiming to impact the world through commercial activities, I had never before encountered a Demigod, someone 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. If you like this work, feel free to visit qidian.com to vote for it or offer a monthly vote; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)