Buying Storefronts

"Forget it. No point overthinking it now. Time to make dinner."

Zucker went to the kitchen, took out the ingredients he had bought that morning from the refrigerator, and began preparing dinner.

Dinner was, of course, Chinese food!

He had been in America for over a month. At first, Zucker had enjoyed authentic American cuisine, but after eating it for so long, he had grown tired of it. Today, he planned to make himself a proper Chinese meal. As for whether Zucker could cook?

Try being single!

Not only could he cook, but he was also proficient with plumbing, electricity, and gas.

Very soon.

Kung Pao chicken, boiled pork slices, mapo tofu, and steamed rice with Chinese sausage came out of the kitchen one after another.

"Perfect... Three dishes and rice. I wouldn't trade this for a goddamn immortal feast!"

Zucker sat down, ready to eat, when someone knocked on the door.

The door opened.

"Hey, Zucker, you've been gone for nearly ten days. Good thing you came back today, or I was about to call the police."

After entering, James Shawn made himself at home and sat directly across from Zucker. He was Zucker's neighbor—his neighbor of more than ten years.

"It's nothing. I just went out to take care of some business," Zucker said.

"Oh, all right. By the way, this is a gift I brought you. Hope you like it," James Shawn suddenly said.

The gift came in a box. Inside was a Los Angeles Lakers basketball jersey.

And it was signed.

[May your mother rest peacefully in heaven, far from the troubles of this world. At the same time, I hope Zucker Wald will always be happy—Earvin Jensen]

Earvin Jensen?

Wasn't that the famous NBA player, Magic Jensen?!

A signed jersey like this was naturally something basketball fans would love.

Even though Zucker himself was not a fan, the original owner of this body had been an exceptionally avid basketball fan. He had even entered the NBA draft. After going undrafted, he had continued loving basketball and once boldly declared that he would buy an NBA team someday.

Zucker was a layman, but he still understood how valuable this signed jersey was!

How much could it sell for?

It had to be worth at least a thousand dollars, right?

Well, that was just the kind of person Zucker was.

Between hobbies and money, Zucker chose the latter without hesitation.

I've got money on the brain, so what? Is it wrong to like money? I'm not shallow—I'm practical. I'm carrying forward the virtues of thrift and hard work.

Zucker could not help thinking.

Even though he was now worth millions, was a thousand dollars not still money?

"Hold on!"

Suppressing his delight, Zucker said, "James, let's make this clear first. How much are you planning to sell this to me for?"

At that, James Shawn immediately jumped to his feet, anger written across his face.

"Zucker, how could you say that? Do you think I'm the kind of person who only cares about money? I'm telling you, you've got me all wrong!"

They had been neighbors for over ten years. Who didn't know the other by now?

They were both old foxes. Who was he trying to fool with that act?

"Heh."

Zucker slapped his forehead and sneered. "James, tell me—how many things have you sold me since we were kids? Look around this house. This dining table, this sofa, this television, and that huge pile of collectible toys in my room. Oh, and this juicer too. Doesn't it look familiar?

Which one of them wasn't sold to me by you?

Especially this juicer. Other people sold them for fifty dollars each, and they were even cheaper during sales. But you charged me one hundred and fifty dollars just because it had Michael Jackson's signature on it? Bullshit signature. I bet you signed it yourself. Every time, you start by saying it's a gift, but after just a few words, we're talking price."

It would have been fine if he had not brought it up, but now that he had, Zucker was getting angry!

What a piece of work!

His longtime neighbor, James Shawn, was practically a bottomless pit. He had made at least several thousand dollars off the original owner alone.

Hmm... judging from the original owner's memories, he had even been grateful to James Shawn every time he bought something from him. What an idiot. And not only that—James had successfully gone door-to-door selling things to every household on the entire street where Zucker lived. Apparently, he even had a pretty good reputation!

"Uh..."

"Zucker, you've disappointed me too much. I thought we were the best of friends, but... but what you said today has seriously hurt our friendship. It's like sharp steel knives stabbing into my chest. If you pulled them out, nothing but my hot blood would come pouring out!"

James Shawn was no ordinary person either. He was only stunned for a moment before launching into a torrent of grievances.

Even though Zucker remained expressionless the entire time, James just kept talking and talking!

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

And he was still talking!

"How can you say the signature is fake?"

"Every one of them is genuine. I got this signed jersey after waiting in line through great hardship."

"For this jersey, I gave it everything I had. You could say I fought a battle against a million American soldiers for three days and three nights."

Fine. Zucker surrendered.

James True-Quality Sean was incredible. He simply would not stop until he got what he wanted!

He had been talking for half an hour without pausing. Anyone would have cracked.

"Fine, tell me. How much?" Zucker said, rubbing his forehead.

"Money? You're talking to me about money? What is money? Can that stuff compare to our friendship? You're insulting me!" James widened his eyes.

"One hundred dollars!"

Zucker did not waste words. Seeing that James was about to start talking again, he immediately cut him off. "Agree, and leave the jersey here. If not, I'm going to sleep."

"Deal!"

James Shawn agreed without the slightest hesitation. The speed of his response was astonishing.

"I thought you said talking about money was an insult to you?" Zucker asked teasingly.

"Good friends settle accounts clearly. Even if it is an insult, it's just friends joking around. How could you take it seriously? Wouldn't that hurt our friendship?"

James Shawn spoke with absolute conviction, his face utterly sincere. He was completely shameless—and proud of it.

What a talent!

With skin that thick, how could he not be a talent?

Even an ordinary brick had its value.

James Shawn might not have been a great talent, but he was a crooked kind of talent. He had his own clever tricks and way of dealing with people. Even if he angered you while selling something, he always found a way afterward to make you feel good about him again. He also often helped elderly people living alone with chores. That was why, despite being such a scammer, he still had a decent reputation.

Hmm? James is a good talker and has sales skills. He should have no problem managing a movie merchandise store.

Zucker had no intention of tying himself down to movie merchandise stores. He was a man who wanted to enter Hollywood!

The reason he chose to trust James, despite being ripped off by him before, was that the original owner's memories told him James had saved Zucker's life and had also stood up for him many times at school.

Three days later.

Led by a real estate agent, Zucker inspected numerous commercial streets in Los Angeles, particularly those near bustling movie theaters, such as the streets around the TCL Chinese Theatre, Universal Studios, Disney Studios, and so on.

Over the following week, Zucker remained busy with the movie merchandise chain stores.

In the end, he selected seven locations, all of them good spots.

He also bought the storefront properties for three of those stores and chose to lease the other four.

"That's highway robbery! Just those three storefronts cost me nearly two million dollars. Add the cost of leasing four more stores, and of my original 2.62 million dollars, I have less than a hundred thousand left."

Zucker's heart was bleeding!

Spending so much money was something he had never anticipated. Commercial properties—especially those in prime locations—were simply too expensive.

"I have to use three properties as collateral for a bank loan, then I'll go to Pixar Animation Studios."

It was expensive, but Zucker believed it was worth it. Once Toy Story was released, he would make back his investment several times over.