(Bonus Chapter 1)
Josh was a little surprised to have guests at home, but he welcomed them warmly anyway.
He and Margaret had been together for almost four years. Although Margaret was very enthusiastic when they first met, in reality she was a complete shut-in with a very small social circle.
Before having children, she would occasionally go out and socialize, but after becoming a mother, she rarely wanted to leave the house.
Since it was rare for her to have close friends over, Josh naturally gave them the respect they deserved.
Especially seeing how warmly Margaret interacted with Mary Osborn—it was something Josh had rarely seen before.
Clearly, the two shared a deep bond.
After high school, however, Mary Osborn moved to Seattle with her parents. At that time, Margaret was also deeply in love with a certain scumbag, so the two lost touch.
Mary later met Amberson in Seattle and they were married in 1945, just two years ago. They didn't have children yet.
Recently, because of Amberson's business, they decided to move to Chicago.
Since Amberson and Linus were high school classmates, and Chicago was the Leibler family's base of operations, it was only natural for Amberson to pay his old friend a visit.
During this time, Amberson also inquired about Josh. Although Josh kept a low profile compared to someone like Howard Stark, Josh Kahn and his Continental Group were already an undeniable force in the business world of the northern United States.
One of Amberson's core businesses was supplying parts to the aviation and automotive industries.
Although aviation and automobiles might seem unrelated, many modern car components actually originated from the aerospace industry. The two industries had a lot in common.
During this time, industries were not as specialized as they would later become.
Many companies simply produced whatever was in demand.
And the largest and most influential aerospace and automotive company in the U.S. at the time was Boeing, now almost entirely controlled by the Continental Group.
In simple terms, Amberson's business depended on Josh's.
But there were too many entrepreneurs like Amberson, and they were far from Josh's level. It wasn't easy to meet a business giant like him.
Through Linus, Mary discovered that Josh's wife, Margaret, was actually her high school classmate.
This brought the two families closer immediately.
It may seem like a roundabout connection, but that's how social networks are built.
Without Linus and Margaret as common links, Amberson might never have had the chance to meet Josh in person, let alone sit at the same table as an equal.
"Oh? You're going to settle in Chicago? That's great! We'll have more chances to meet in the future," Josh said at the dinner table when he heard that the Ambersons had decided to move to Chicago.
Hearing this, Amberson breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been a little worried about their unannounced visit today. After all, he had never interacted with Josh directly and wasn't sure what kind of personality this legendary tycoon had.
Fortunately, the young tycoon seemed to care deeply for his wife, so Amberson's decision to approach him through her was the right one.
"Has everything gone smoothly with the establishment of the company here?" Josh asked.
"With Linus' help, everything has gone well. The only problem is that hiring workers hasn't been easy. In order to keep production going, I've had to consider hiring more black workers. But I think you understand—they might be fine for farm work, but for anything more skilled, it gets complicated," Amberson replied honestly.
His tone made it clear that he wasn't happy about hiring black workers, which was a common sentiment among the upper class at the time.
Since the beginning of World War II, the U.S. economy had been growing rapidly. The only slowdown came right after the war, when returning veterans and a temporary decline in war industries caused a brief economic pause.
But as the economy boomed again, a serious problem arose—a shortage of workers.
Many industrial cities, especially heavy industry centers like Chicago, had no choice but to begin hiring black workers in large numbers.
As a result, many black workers from the South began migrating north in search of better opportunities.
That was the reality of the time. Josh didn't like it much, but there wasn't much he could do about it.
"By the way, you two have been married for two years now. Have you thought about having children? And Linus, when are you getting married? You and David aren't getting any younger, and you still don't have any children. Uncle John always complains about that when he visits Mike and Carol," Josh said, shifting the conversation away from the previous, less pleasant topic.
At that moment, the sound of Mike and Carol playing could be heard from the next room.
Since toddlers could be noisy, they had only met the guests briefly before Jiaying took them away to play. They even ate in a separate room to avoid any disturbance.
Hearing Josh bring up children, Amberson and Mary didn't seem too bothered. They had been married for almost two years, but hadn't had any children yet.
Linus and Elizabeth, however, looked a little uncomfortable. Although they were considered a couple, they hadn't been together very long. Their families had introduced them through business connections, essentially setting them up through an arranged meeting.
Fortunately, they seemed to get along well enough. The only problem was that Linus was a bit slow when it came to relationships—nothing like the sharp businessman he was in the corporate world. This was a constant source of frustration to John Leibler.
He had already given up on his younger son, David. Linus was supposed to be the family's hope, but he just didn't seem to understand women.
So Josh's mention of marriage wasn't just casual talk—it was a bit of a push in the right direction.
Over the years of working with the Leibler family, Josh had developed a good impression of Linus.
Join Patreon.com/AHumanMadeMOFO to read till Chapter 271 (66 Chapter Ahead).