Chapter 70:
The two children who were sitting at a roadside open-air caf for the first time seemed a bit uneasy. Before sitting down, they repeatedly patted their clothes to ensure they wouldn't dirty the chairs.
Lin Qi did not stop them; he just watched quietly. A person's reverence for the world wouldn't disappear in an instant. If someone could lose reverence for everything in a moment, that person would soon perish.
Those arrogant individuals who didn't understand reverence wouldn't live long. They would either get destroyed by others or by themselves.
Watching them sit down carefully, slightly lowering their heads, Lin Qi could tell that there was still some reverence in their hearts. Even though they did things that many adults wouldn't dare dolike taking a life.
After the waiter brought three cups of coffee along with three thin pancakes and sincerely wished them a perfect afternoon tea, Lin Qi began discussing the job he could offer them.
"Recently, I've established an auction house, and currently, I don't have many people working for me. In the upcoming days, I'll have a lot of work to do, and I can't confine myself there completely. So I need some people to work for me."
The two children, exchanging glances, immediately straightened their backs. Lin Qi nodded nonchalantly while holding a tray in one hand and sipping coffee from a cup in the other.
"For the first task, I need someone to inquire about various goods in all the trade markets of Sabin City every day, including the daily prices of raw materials. It's a simple but meticulous job, requiring someone who can speak, recognize some characters, and write a bit."
Mr. Fox had not yet realized the trouble the pledge loan agreement representing his finances would bring him. Various miscellaneous items would soon fill his warehouse, unlike items such as gold and jewelry that could be easily sold.
If someone truly had those valuable items, they wouldn't bring them to Mr. Fox; instead, they'd directly sell them to places like antique shops, often known as pawn shops.
The items that ended up with Mr. Fox were essentially things that were difficult to dispose of immediately, things closely related to life.
Unable to get rid of them in the short term and unwilling to discard them, these items would also consume a considerable amount of energy and effort. Lin Qi would then buy these items at a discounted price based on the pledge agreement's value, making a profit twice, and possibly more on the second transaction. However, this wasn't crucial because these transactions were not directly linked. Sometimes Mr. Fox even voluntarily asked Lin Qi to handle them.
Market prices would fluctuate, and budgeting for the sale of each item would become crucial. Lin Qi could sense the impending storm as the economic contraction led ordinary people to reconsider their consumption habits. People began trying to reduce unnecessary expenses by purchasing second-hand goods, making pricing a skill to master.
As for raw materials, there were sometimes confusing behaviors in the market, such as a product's price dropping below the cost of its raw materials, a common occurrence in the second-hand car trade.
Sometimes an old car could only be sold for a couple of bucks, but disassembling it into raw materials or even some parts could yield a higher price.
In the past, people might have avoided this method due to high labor costs, but with the economic downturn approaching, manual labor would become less valuable, and people would scramble for jobs they once looked down upon.
For capitalists with preparation and foresight, this would be a feast. After all, in past operations, labor costs were the most significant part of overall costs!
The two children nodded vigorously. The younger one, who seemed to have asked to refrain from speaking, remained silent. The older child, always the one speaking, said, "Mr. Lin Qi, we can read and write, and we're diligent and fast."
Lin Qi nodded. "For the second task, I need some people with good communication skills, looking a bit cute. We'll have some products that need door-to-door sales."
Kindness and benevolence often arose when people achieved financial freedom and began pursuing spiritual needs. Someone who could barely afford pants wouldn't think about "helping others today" or "how to make myself happy by helping others." They would just want to earn money and fill their stomachs.
Only those who were well-fed and had nothing to do tended to want to prove their superiority through their past efforts. Sometimes, charity simply act as a demonstration of superiority.
Using a small amount of money for meager thanks, even making someone kneel in gratitude, provides an inner satisfaction, a feeling of transcending the soul, rising from the soles of the feet. This would easily satisfy the group that often belongs to the middle class, an interesting bunch.
For those who had truly reached the upper echelons of society, people were already accustomed to various life experiences, and charity, compared to spiritual pursuits, seemed more like a disguise for their own ugliness.
Knocking on the doors of the middle class with poor children was an effective method. This group, striving for progress and taking on more responsibility in social change, was willing to foot the bill for the children.
It was a good businesssaving some people, satisfying others, and, most importantly, allowing Lin Qi to make money.
"Perhaps I'll have other jobs for you in the future. It depends on how well I develop here." Lin Qi took out a checkbook from his pocket, signed a cash check for two hundred bucks, and placed it on the table.
"Go buy some decent clothes for yourselves, make yourselves look...," he gestured with his hand, "neat. Then come to the warehouse area tomorrow."
With that, he finished the thin pancakes and drank the coffee in a few gulps, stood up, and the two children nervously followed suit.
"I think we have finished our discussion." Lin Qi said.
"Yes, Mr. Lin Qi." The older child, head lowered, appeared meek.
Very Good. Lin Qi thought to himself and then said, "Enjoy your afternoon tea, then. See you tomorrow, kids."
"See you tomorrow, Mr. Lin Qi!"
After Lin Qi left, the two children were extremely excited. They finished the coffee, their faces contorted from its bitterness.
"Yuk, why do adults like this stuff?" The younger child shivered like after urinating.
He looked at the residue in the cup with lingering fear and couldn't help saying, "I still prefer sweeter fruit juice."
The older child also had a bitter expression. But he scolded in a low voice, "Shut up," then wrapped the two pancakes in paper and put them back in the bag. They were to be shared with everyone when they returnedthey had become a unit, and they should share everything together.
If it weren't for the coffee being impossible to take with them, they wouldn't have drunk it all.
Before leaving, the two children didn't forget to wipe the chairs that hadn't actually been dirtied with their sleevescautious, and careful, it was a poignant sight.
But that was the world they lived in there were people who entered prestigious and extravagant places, casually spraying vulgar and obscene language, while they lurked above, parasitically feeding on the federation and even the entire societal structure.Please vote for this novel at /series/blackstone-code/
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