Money Power

Outside the agency's gazebo, a slender young woman with medium-length black hair, wearing a white dress, and a serene expression, looked up at the sky from a rocking chair. She occasionally waved a palm-leaf fan in her hand, appearing as leisurely as an Elder in her twilight years.

Ah, my youth!

"Ah~ they've all perished in these mountains~"

"Oh no~ It's hopeless~"

Although he seemed to be enjoying himself, he was muttering to himself, clearly indicating that he was very dissatisfied with his life.

"Hey, little sister, you're at the prime of your life. Lying in your rocking chair complaining like this without taking any real action is completely pointless!"

The girl was taken aback by what she heard, then barely moved her head. Seeing Yimo who had come to speak, she frowned slightly and said, "Uh... it's you guys~"

As he spoke, he sat up abruptly, cross-legged in the rocking chair, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, and said somewhat emotionlessly, "Welcome to Box Town Agency. Our agency offers any service you can think of and are willing to pay for, including house rentals and sales, retail sales, finding lost items, poultry and pets, collecting evidence of infidelity, ordering external supplies, and more."

Upon Yimo, Yimo looked shocked. "Holy crap, is he that amazing?"

The girl, like a hidden master, fanned herself twice with her palm-leaf fan and said confidently, "Yes, that's how awesome I am!"

Yimo exclaimed "Awesome!" and then asked in a low voice, "But in reality?"

The girl held the palm-leaf fan to her face and whispered to Yimo, "Actually, the Town is small. How many people rent or own houses?"

"They're all places I rent out, and the people there are incredibly stingy and miserly. So my family will try our best to do anything that can make money."

"Hey buddy, you look really sharp. I'm telling you the truth."

"The girl behind you looks a bit silly, don't tell her!"

"What if it's a big client?"

"It's all for food, please be understanding!"

Yimo turned her head and glanced at him.

To be honest, the way Juzi looked at me with those big, innocent, and curious eyes was really quite silly...

Then he turned around and gave the girl a thumbs up. "No problem, what's your name? I'm 20 years old, my name is Sakamoto!"

The girl didn't hold back and said directly, "I'm 17 years old, Zhenling, a second-year high school student, working at the shop during summer vacation. Nice to meet you!"

"I still need to rely on Tour Group like yours to make money."

"By the way, you guys too, why did you have to come to our poor mountain village of 'travel' of all places?"

"Hey, besides mountains, trees, mosquitoes, and bugs, there's nothing else!"

Upon hearing this, Yimo nodded. Before he could even try to get any information out of them, he learned that the system had assigned them the identity of passengers. He then took out a red banknote and handed it to the girl. "Then our names are a perfect match. Put them together as Sakamoto Zhenling, and you'll have a famous voice actress."

"Never mind the person behind me, it's too hot. Pick me two popsicles, the kind with lots of ice, then I want to talk business with you."

Zhenling was just bored. Seeing that Yimo wasn't much older than her, and although Bangs were a bit long, she was quite pretty upon closer inspection. Besides, Imo was from a big city, so she wanted to chat with him. She never expected that Imo would want to do business with her. Immediately, she perked up, jumped off the rocking chair, patted her skirt, and said, "Let's talk inside!"

As he spoke, he found two freezers in the freezer next to him and handed them to Yimo.

Just then, Juzi curiously peeked over, bobbing her little head. Before she could even listen to what Yimo and the NPC girl were saying, an ice pop was shoved into her hand.

How so?

After following Yimo for so long without her paying any attention, she was suddenly surprised when Yimo noticed she was hot and bought her an ice pop. It felt like the clouds had parted and the Upright Official was shining through – it was wonderful!

His smile widened instantly, and he tried to move closer to Yimo, but Yimo pressed his forehead down and whispered in her ear, deliberately trying to look cool, "I have something important to ask an NPC. Keep watch outside for me. If anyone comes, come in and tell me immediately!"

"This matter is extremely important and must not be known to outsiders under any circumstances, understand?"

Yimo spoke so formally that Juzi took it seriously and quickly nodded solemnly, saying, "Don't worry! Leave it to me, I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

"That... yes!"

Yes, Juzi's signature move is back!

Seeing that she was serious, Yimo followed the NPC girl, Zhenling, into the Wooden Hut.

Is Yimo trying to get Juzi to keep watch for her?

Definitely not!

That was simply because I didn't want her to know anything I did.

Yimo strongly suspected that she couldn't keep a secret, fearing that she might reveal everything. If he made a breakthrough in his Game and tried to pull some tricks, it would all be ruined by her.

Yeah, mainly to guard against her!

Yimo followed Zhenling into the Wooden Hut and couldn't help but admire Wooden Hut architecture inside.

The building's style is pleasing to the eye; wind Dingling Dingling in the wind; the outermost layer of the interior walls has many exquisite openwork carvings, and small wood carvings are placed everywhere.

Zhenling had Yimo on a round stool next to the small wooden table and couldn't help but ask, "Handsome young man, what kind of business do you need our shop to handle?"

"Don't worry, there's nothing our Box Town Agency can't do, only things you haven't thought of."

"Even if you're looking for young girls, aside from those I don't sell, I can help you find someone else."

"Of course, the cost isn't low, and whether you can secure it depends on your own efforts."

"However, that naive and innocent girl outside is just too infuriating in terms of both looks and figure. If you two are a couple, you probably wouldn't be interested in a country bumpkin like us from a remote mountain town."

Zhenling spoke, she glanced at her own breasts, which were barely a B cup, and her expression turned somewhat pale.

Yimo quickly said, "I have nothing to do with that girl outside. I just met her in a tour group. She's a bit dim-witted, and I happened to help her before, so now she's obsessed with following me around."

"By the way, why is your town called Box Town? The name sounds a bit strange."

"Do you sell or rent houses in your town?"

"It seems like there aren't many outsiders in your town, so this kind of business probably won't work."

Upon hearing this, Zhenling explained, "Our town was originally called Coffin Town, because making coffins and urns was our main way of making money."

"The former Town Mayor felt his name was unlucky, so he changed it."

"It takes three days to drive from our town to the nearest county; the roads are extremely difficult to travel. Business hasn't been good these past few years, and our previously stable suppliers have all switched to other places for their orders."

"After all, no matter how good the wood carving is, the transportation costs are too high, so they're unwilling to cooperate; it's not a good fit!"

Zhenling spoke, she took out a thick Handbook and handed it to Yimo: "There are currently 8 houses for sale and 16 houses for rent, all of which are small detached houses."

"A year ago, a developer came to our area and built some kind of Modern Times high-end community halfway up the mountain, advertising that it would give everyone a big-city feel even though it's in the mountains."

"Hey, it's finished now. A lot of wealthy people in town have bought houses and moved there."

"Yes, it was just handed over to residents recently."

"So when old houses become vacant, some people want to rent them out or sell them to make some money."

"Of course, some homeowners have moved to big cities, so the houses have remained vacant."

Upon hearing this, Yimo glanced at the Handbook. Indeed, the photos showed old houses in towns, but to Modern Times eyes, they didn't look old at all; in fact, they had a strong sense of life, probably the kind of house one longs to stay in during a vacation.

"You haven't moved there? I think you're really eager to go to the city."

Upon hearing this, Zhenling shook her head and said, "Isn't that nonsense?"

"The countryside is the countryside. No matter how well it's built, it's still halfway up a mountain. How can it possibly give people the feeling of a metropolis?"

"What I long for is a real metropolis, the kind where you step out and are surrounded by skyscrapers, where you can buy whatever you want at the supermarket, where you can hail a taxi 24 hours a day, where you can go to a restaurant whenever you want, where you can watch a movie whenever you want, and where you can buy any pretty dress you want."

"Can that New Town District do it?"

I don't think so!

"I'm not saying this to be mean, but it's just something to fool those older people who like to compare themselves to others!"

"I wouldn't stay there even if it were free; there are too many mosquitoes and bugs on the mountain!"

"Hey bro, what's up? Need to rent a place?"

"I recommend this one. There's a small pond in the Back Courtyard with beautiful flowers and fish. It's perfect for a trip. The Landlord moved to a big city, but he has excellent taste. It's been renovated and has air conditioning and everything!"

"Well, the price... is a bit expensive!" Maaya said, Zhenling somewhat troubled.

After all, Sakamoto looks young and doesn't seem wealthy.

Yimo: "How much?"

Zhenling held up one finger.

Yimo: "1000?"

Zhenling was taken aback and said, "Huh?"

"100 a day, 1500 a month!"

"Dude, you city folks are so rich!"

"Is the opening this big?"

Yimo scratched her head, a little embarrassed, and said, "Hey, it seems like there are a lot of them, but they look better in pictures."

It looks nice, but if you were to travel and rent a detached Villa like this, 1,000 yuan a day would probably not be enough during peak season.

Upon hearing Zhenling, Maaya excitedly asked, "So, are you going to rent it or not?"

"This is the perfect place for your trip! That lady outside seems interested in you. With a place like this, handsome, your love life is definitely secure!"

Zhenling spoke, she patted Yimo on the shoulder.

Yimo nodded as if considering. "Um, Zhenling, could you turn around for a second? I realized my zipper is down, let me zip it up..."

"Huh???" Zhenling was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, and her face immediately turned red.

She's only 17 years old!

No one noticed that Yimo was wearing sweatpants without a zipper, and they quickly turned away.

A moment later, she heard Yimo call her to turn around.

I turned my head and looked at it, feeling quite embarrassed.

But when he saw several stacks of money on the small wooden table, he froze, then rushed to the table, his eyes gleaming. It took him a full minute to react before he grabbed Yimo's hands and said, "Boss! I misjudged you!"

Are you asking for a yearly subscription?

"Don't worry, I'll clean your house every day!"

You see, those homeowners who put their houses with real estate agencies don't really intend to sell or rent them out. If they do get rented out, half of the rent will go into the pockets of the Box Town Agency, which is also Zhenling's pocket.

There were seven stacks of money on the small wooden table, which means a total of 70,000 yuan!

For a backward small town, earning 35,000 yuan a year would be an absolutely high income for any household!

No Zhenling Maaya was excited!

Yimo shook his head and casually said, "I've rented all 24 houses for just one month."

"Here's the extra money, keep the change."

"However, there are conditions. If you don't agree, this deal can't be done!"

Yimo spoke, he took one of Zhenling's two hands and reached for the money.

But before he could even touch the money, Zhenling grabbed it again, excitedly saying, "Don't worry, boss, the terms are agreed!"

Even if someone wants to date me, I'll pretend to agree first!