Once again Bryan stood aside from the group and watched them press the Tees to take their first shots one by one, but this time Sofia put her golf club back in her bag before walking towards Bryan yet instead of talking to him she looked at David and gave him a stern look while squinting her eyes slightly : "Hmmm..." She tilted her head to the side while looking between David and Jessica then hummed and opened her mouth to say : "Too bad... I really fancied you for my eldest daughter you know!"

  *Snort*

  David just rolled his eyes while thinking : 'I'm also not the only one in the army of thousands which you sacrificed for your loose eldest daughter aunt Sofia, it'd be best if you forget about it and let it rest... let it lie already!'

  Sofia acted like she didn't notice David's indignation at all and stood shoulder to shoulder next to Bryan then both of them watched in silence for a few minutes as other members in the group took their turns at the first shot of this course, finally she decided to break the silence once she realized that there's probably no way for Bryan to do so himself.

  After all she couldn't sense any impatience or annoyance while standing next to him and getting a feel of his condition while leaning on his shoulder with hers, Sofia only sensed his calm and for a short while there she really forgot that she's leaning against a human being because she felt like leaning against a wall or some rock!

  "You mentioned the business going dry earlier... Is it true?" Sofia asked while correcting her posture and twisting her neck to look at Bryan's face but much to her disappointment his expression didn't change when he nodded and despite doing her best to study every detail of his expression while relying on her full experience which took her twenty years to earn, there was nothing but serenity and calm within his eyes.

  Bryan looked at Sofia and opened his mouth to say : "Madam Sofia is a role model of a smart, intellectual, and very, very successful businesswoman." After saying that he turned to look at the group before lowering his voice so that only Sofia, David, and Jessica could hear what he's about to say and added while gesturing with his chin at the person about to take his turn in taking the first shot : "Unlike Mr. Jordan over there who's unaware that he's in great trouble after blindly following the advice of Mr. Jimmy over there and gambling his liquid assets and his shares in both manufacturing pnt and company plus 8 of his 9 nd deeds... Madam Sofia knows full well the risk of having all eggs in a single basket."

  Sofia felt a cold chill on the back of her neck after hearing Bryan's detailed information on Jordan because she already noticed that whenever she looked him in the eyes Sofia kept feeling like his soul was simply nonexistent even when Jordan tried to cover it by ughing and smiling with the group and throwing jokes here and there!

  "Even when Mr. Jimmy kept stressing and pushing you to seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get a bigger slice of the cake, Madam Sofia still made sure to only use one-third of your liquid assets while tucking the remaining two-thirds away in a long-term offshore investment fund." Bryan said while giving Sofia a smile then added : "A brilliant move Madam, hedge funding across the pond and short-selling oil while leveraging gold price is indeed worth the risk for the next six to eight months but... I recommend you withdraw in four months because afterwards the risk would outweigh the gain."

  "Y-you even know about that! H-how did you know about my deal with the s-"

  Bryan held Sofia's left elbow and gave it a gentle squeeze once her voice was loud enough for others to hear and interrupted her with a smile on his face but he was signaling her to notice that others are interested to hear about these sensitive details and some members of the group were already coming towards them, "Madam Sofia. I'm sure we can discuss these matters ter over a cup of coffee but right now I think it's better for you to enjoy the game, we don't want Dr. Jeffery to bme me once again for deying the fun."

  Sofia of course realized that Bryan just saved her from a lot of trouble and was more than grateful for what he did and admired his timely cover, "You're absolutely right Mr. Bryan, thanks for the advice but you better believe that I'm definitely coming for more! I'll be damned if I don't kick the door when you dare deny my visit." She said while puffing her cheeks in Bryan's face like a little girl which surprised the people spying on them since this Sofia is quite hard to get acquainted with yet this young fellow did just that after speaking with her only twice!

  Not to mention what she just said with genuine conviction earlier, it seems like this young man really was true to his word earlier yet they ignored him for so long which allowed Sofia who took the initiative to be the first to receive something from him.

  As old hands in business they've been so foolish and ignored the simplest rule which is as old as time... Only fools would refuse what's free.

  Derek who already had a good impression after his earlier conversation with Bryan decided to jump the queue then leaned to whisper in Bryan's ear : "Any good advice for me Mr. Bryan? I'm at my wit's end here!"

  Bryan nodded and opened his mouth to say : "This is a chance for you to build yourself anew Mr. Derek, I believe you know more than anybody what's the most important thing for a shipping company to do when the business is booming right!" While making sure to keep his voice low so that others who're standing much closer to him at the moment wouldn't hear what he's saying.

  Derek frowned because right now the situation is the extreme opposite of booming, it's practically dead... Almost 85% of his monthly export orders were cancelled for this month until further notice while more than 94% of the imported ordered were cancelled for this month and the two following it!

  "But the business is in the muck right now Mr. Bryan." Derek asked while trying his best to suppress his desperation from showing on his expression.

  Bryan just shook his head before saying : "I'm disappointed I have to say it myself Mr. Derek." After giving the man an unnerving look he added : "65% of your fleet is between 20 and 25 years old while 15% is pushing on 20, time to use this opportunity to retire the few old ones and cut your losses... Use the bit of breathing space the liquid fund is going to give you after retiring these ships to maintain the ones about to fall down. That way you'd be ready for business when the messengers come knocking on your door but... Better keep everything hush-hush because once your competition hears about your pns it'd be free-for-all."

  Derek spped his forehead once his vision was broadened and shook Bryan's hand while thanking him repeatedly but once he was about to walk away Bryan stopped him and said : "I'd recommend that you stay and finish your game because if you leave then it'd make your competition even more curious, I can see Mr. Jimmy watching us like a hawk and he's quite friendly with some of these people who share your market."

  Once again Derek felt like spping himself but on the cheek this time since he was really loosing his cool once he saw a bit of light at the end of this dark tunnel, "Thank you Mr. Bryan, thank you very much, call me whenever... I mean it."

  Bryan smiled then nodded and watched Derek go pick up his golf bag and walk towards the direction his ball went while looking at the screen of the small guiding device in his hand.

  "I already gave you some advice Mr. Lawrence, time for you to give me something in return." Bryan said while smiling at the parliament member who shamelessly acted like he's not seeing the annoyed looks being given to him by the men and women who were about to use this opportunity to approach Bryan.

  Lawrence felt like crying once he saw everyone nodding in agreement after hearing Bryan and thought to himself : 'This young man is so difficult to understand, one moment he's acting like a phinthropist and the next he's acting like a loan shark!'