After Lin Qi performed several rounds of his century-defying magic trick—turning ninety-seven cents into a dollar—the three young men successfully joined the Great Empire's development.
They would soon begin this promising line of work. Of course, the reason these three young men had been chosen wasn't because they were silver-tongued, but because they came from wealthy families.
In other words, they had plenty of money they could put on the table. They would use their own money to help Lin Qi make money, make even more money, and then thank Lin Qi for bringing them along to share in the profits.
In some respects, Lin Qi's current business had no "resistance to risk" at all. In this case, the risk meant the possibility of being imitated.
When there was no technological monopoly to serve as a prerequisite, businesses with low technical barriers would always face the risk of imitation. That was the ceiling that low-tech, low-cost ventures struggled to break through, because anyone could do them.
Turning larger bills into change, then turning that change into even more larger bills for people who needed it, looked like something anyone could do—as long as they had enough small bills on hand.
And that was indeed the case. However, there were still some minor problems involved, and those problems were the true core of the business: trust.
Some people were always complaining about how unfair society was. They sold the same services, so why could some people stay so busy that customers had to line up, while others, right next door, had no customers at all?
The answer was actually very simple: trust!
Without trust, it was like having two isolated islands with no connection between them. They would have no dealings with each other. But with trust, it was like having a bridge. Before that bridge was destroyed, the ties between the two islands would remain close.
Lin Qi couldn't stop other people from entering this business, but he had advantages of his own.
He brought Richard and the other two young men—each harboring their own schemes yet brimming with confidence—back to the office. It was a warehouse Lin Qi had rented temporarily. He had hired two carpenters to put together a simple office inside and divided the warehouse into two sections.
They would work in this warehouse outside the city's central district. Fortunately, the city's convenient transportation and the special nature of their work meant they didn't need to come by every day, so they naturally wouldn't complain about the office being far from the city center.
Lin Qi's instructions were that once they had exchanged enough small bills, they could come to the office and exchange them with him. Then they could go back out and gather more change.
The warehouse office was like a beehive. He was the queen bee, while these employees were the industrious worker bees.
After arranging the three men's work, Lin Qi left as well. He needed to discuss the next stage of the business with Mr. Fox.
About half an hour later, Lin Qi saw Mr. Fox again in that basement. As it happened, Mr. Fox had also been preparing to send someone to find him.
"You came at just the right time..." He tossed a cigarette to Lin Qi, walked around the desk, and sat down beside him on the sofa.
Thanks to Lin Qi's help, he had solved quite a few major problems. Watching that money flow into the banks from all those hidden corners filled him with unprecedented happiness.
For the first time, the numbers in his passbook satisfied him so thoroughly. He had even applied for a five-thousand-dollar cash checkbook, allowing him to pay openly with checks whenever he spent money outside.
The feeling left him floating on air and made him increasingly aware of how important it was to put money in the bank. Because of that, he had done Lin Qi a small favor. That was also what he wanted to tell Lin Qi next.
He took out his lighter and personally lit Lin Qi's cigarette. The gesture caused the burly men around them to exchange strange looks. Mr. Fox rarely did such a thing. He was a proud man!
"...Michael won't trouble you anymore!" he said with certainty. He watched Lin Qi, intending to savor his surprised, shocked, and delighted expression, only to find that Lin Qi seemed to feel none of those things. He remained composed and calm, meeting Mr. Fox's gaze.
Mr. Fox suddenly chuckled. "I knew you wouldn't be surprised. That kind of foresight is strange in itself..." He paused, then continued, "Forget it. No need to talk about that. Michael left Sabine City today. He won't be back for at least ten-odd days."
"And even after he comes back, he won't have much more to do with you. I had someone warn him!" As he spoke, he lifted his chin slightly, looking rather pleased with himself.
Only then did Lin Qi realize why Michael had suddenly gone home yesterday afternoon. Intrigued by this kind of mature experience, Lin Qi asked, "What did you do?"
That question hit exactly where Mr. Fox was most eager to show off. He liked flaunting his not particularly outstanding intelligence in front of someone as clever as Lin Qi.
"I found some lawyers. If they don't want trouble, they should know what to do."
Lin Qi suddenly came to his senses. He had forgotten the greatest difference between this world and the other one: the role of lawyers.
In this world, lawyers' role had been magnified to an extreme. In some respects, they were even more useful than judges. Some judges weren't interested in transactions, but every lawyer was interested in money.
He silently committed this to memory. Perhaps he needed a lawyer friend too.
"Thank you very much for everything you've done, Mr. Fox!" Lin Qi wasn't merely being polite. Mr. Fox hiring lawyers had shown his position; in fact, it had been a very proactive move. Lin Qi had to acknowledge the favor.
Mr. Fox waved magnanimously, and Lin Qi continued, "The Revenue Service has been keeping an eye on me, so I've made a slight change to the way we do business..."
He went on to talk about the company he had newly established and explained the new method of conducting transactions. Put simply, he was making everything public, which instead left the Revenue Service with even fewer ways to interfere.
Mr. Fox only needed to have his men take some money to exchange for small bills, then send those bills to the laundromat under the pretext of having clothes washed. That completed the entire process.
Even if Revenue Service agents followed those men the whole way, it would be meaningless. How many times a piece of clothing was washed, how it was washed, and how much was charged were all matters of personal choice. It was someone else's business, and no one could interfere.
However, Mr. Fox needed some reliable people to handle these tasks. Moreover, this method would make everyone's work faster while creating fewer disadvantages.
After they finished discussing the business, Lin Qi suddenly interrupted with a question. "Mr. Fox, do you know about light baths?"
Mr. Fox was caught off guard by the sudden change of subject. It took him several seconds to recover before he nodded. "Of course I do. Is something wrong with your health?"
Over the past few years, light baths had inexplicably begun to grow popular. They were mainly divided into Infrared Light Bath and Ultraviolet Light Bath, and had become extremely fashionable among the Middle Class and Upper Class.
Many celebrities and socialites were enthusiastic about all kinds of light baths. Driven by the celebrity effect, more and more people began joining this, somewhat ridiculous fashion trend in Lin Qi's eyes.
The covers of many magazines and newspapers featured young men and women wearing sunglasses, sporting ridiculous diving caps, and half-naked as they bathed beneath various lights.
Society had hyped the miraculous effects of light baths to an almost mystical level. They had nearly reached the point of claiming that even cancer could be treated through light baths.
When Lin Qi asked about light baths, Mr. Fox assumed his health had run into trouble. In reality, Lin Qi was perfectly healthy. He didn't need a light-bath treatment. What he needed was an ultraviolet lamp.