8: Chapter 8: Should we take over this store?

Gao Yuan didn't mind...

"How you sell it is your business, I don't care about the rest..."

Then, Qin Mugutan asked, "Brother Gao, you said just now that half would be exchanged for supplies. What kind of supplies do you want?"

Gao Yuan actually didn't have a specific goal; he only knew that the Future World was definitely superior to the real world in terms of technology...

So, it had to be technological products...

"Brother Tan, any technological product will do—mainstream, niche, basic, or cutting-edge..."

"You want these? These things shouldn't be of much use to you, right? Any supplies I can get my hands on would be child's play to someone like you..."

Gao Yuan waved his hand. "Don't worry about that! Just get them ready!"

"Alright! Got it!"

"Also, Brother Tan, if I want to buy a shop, are there any procedures I need to follow?!"

Qin Mugutan nodded quickly. "That's a small matter. Brother Gao, I happen to have a shop. I'll give it to you!"

"Give it to me?"

Gao Yuan looked at Qin Mugutan. In a large city like this, a shop was worth a fortune...

"Hehe, Brother Gao, this shop's location isn't great. It usually just sells things like Nutritional Paste and doesn't make much money. Since you've given me such a lucrative path, what's a small shop in comparison!"

"No need... Let's keep business as business!"

Gao Yuan's desire for a shop was a thought he'd just had. He had temporarily opened up two paths in this world: Qin Mugutan selling cigarettes, and Li Qingmei from Jiayuan Antique Shop selling alcohol...

But Gao Yuan had even bigger goals in mind. He certainly wouldn't stop at selling small commodities; he wanted to become the king of both the real world and the Future World...

Therefore, Gao Yuan wanted more...

Gao Yuan wanted to build his own power base in this world...

Now that he had a 'legal' identity—even though it was only a Four-Character Name and only considered middle-class in this world—it was enough for now.

His real name, 'Gao Yuan', was too conspicuous in this world...

Gao Yuan didn't plan to involve Qin Mugutan or Li Qingmei in his contingency plans.

The more money he made in this world, the more he needed a powerful organization...

Only strength could maintain his status and financial empire. Moreover, the operation was simple: obtain natural materials and food from the real world, and advanced technology from the Future World...

This was the best kind of business, where both worlds benefited, exchanging trivial gadgets for much-needed resources...

...

Seeing Gao Yuan's expression, Qin Mugutan was certain he truly didn't want the shop. Soon, he understood—top-tier people were very proud. Accepting a gift would be beneath them, and Gao Yuan probably wouldn't feel secure using someone else's shop anyway.

"Since you don't want it, Brother Gao, then never mind. Buying a shop is very simple. On Earth, buying a shop is like buying any other product—there's no need to report it, and ordinary small shops don't even pay taxes!"

"Good! I understand!"

Gao Yuan watched Qin Mugutan leave, then returned to the spot where he had first emerged.

This gate, which Gao Yuan called the 'Space-Time Gate', was his most important possession. Therefore, if he were to build power in both worlds, the best location would be near the Space-Time Gate!

Fortunately, there was an empty plot of land outside the Space-Time Gate. After walking a few hundred meters, he finally saw a solitary shop! It was cold and deserted...

So he walked in. "Boss, is this shop for transfer?"

A haggard young girl came out. "You want to buy the shop?"

"Yes, how much?"

"Ten... no, eight million... do you have that much?"

After asking, the girl suddenly noticed the clothes Gao Yuan was wearing and looked astonished. "You... you're wearing fiber clothing. You must be rich, at least ten million..."

"Are you the owner?"

"The owner is my mom... why?"

"It's nothing. Does your mother agree?"

"She agrees... ah, otherwise how could I transfer it? Right?"

Gao Yuan looked at the girl.

"I only talk to the owner. Have your mother come out..."

Hearing this, the girl's expression became somewhat evasive. "Talking to me is the same..."

Gao Yuan smiled. "Is it that your mother doesn't agree at all? Or... are you planning to use the money for something bad?"

"Don't talk nonsense... I'm doing this for her own good. What can we do by keeping this shop? It's better to sell it for money so we can taste what real meat is like and wear natural clothing like yours for once!"

The girl said with righteous indignation.

Gao Yuan was amused...

"Do you have a lot of hostility toward me?"

"How could a wealthy person like you understand our suffering? We bottom-dwellers are raised like pigs by the government. As long as we don't cause trouble, they give us enough food and clothing so we don't die. We eat the trashiest Nutritional Paste, wear Constant Temperature Clothing, live in high-rise pigeonholes, and even for fun, we can only play those few garbage games..."

The girl grew even more angry.

"The government has already guaranteed your basic survival. If you want happiness, shouldn't you strive for it yourself?"

Gao Yuan countered.

"Strive? What can we do? We can't access high-level jobs, we don't know how to do them, and we've never learned. All the basic jobs are done by robots, so who would hire us? We have no resources, no connections, and can't even find work. Those who can work are the middle class, people with four or Five-Character Names. We bottom-dwellers with Six-Character Names or more can only live meaningless lives... Oh, wait, voting for you during elections is our only value!"

Gao Yuan hadn't expected this layer...

In a Future World with such rigid class stratification, although the bottom-dwellers seemed to have their basic needs met, humans have always been more troubled by inequality than by scarcity. When some eat natural food while others can only eat Nutritional Paste, resentment is inevitable.

"What's your name?"

"Lin Yinmeng Jiangnan Wu!"

"Alright, Lin Nanwu. What if I could fulfill your wishes?" Gao Yuan wasn't used to Six-Character Names, so he simplified it to three!

"Fulfill what?"

"Give you real natural food to eat and real pure cotton clothes to wear..."

"Are you lying to me?"

Gao Yuan looked into Lin Nanwu's large eyes and asked back, "Why would I lie to you?"

"You... you're a wealthy person!"

"What's wrong with being a wealthy person? Are all wealthy people liars? You could be one too... Don't you want your children to have two-character names? Don't you want to eat natural food every day?"

Lin Nanwu was dumbfounded. "I do..."

"Work for me..."

"What do you want me to do?"

"First, help me manage this shop..."

...

Half an hour later, Gao Yuan didn't know how Lin Nanwu had convinced her mother, but he had already signed a contract with the middle-aged woman in front of him for ten million.

Besides the transfer contract...

There was also an employment contract; Gao Yuan had hired Lin Nanwu and her mother as his first batch of employees.

To be in charge of this shop...

This shop originally sold Constant Temperature Clothing. Constant Temperature Clothing was the most common type of clothing in the Future World, featuring a built-in Light-Energy Reactor that kept the internal temperature constant, resistant to water, fire, wind, and rain...

Even in weather fifty degrees below zero, wearing a set of Constant Temperature Clothing would feel like a spring breeze.