How much can I buy it?

After walking for some minutes, he ended up gathering some information about this place from his conversations with others and overhearing some as well.

As expected, the city was pleasing to the eye. The people keeping the street tidy were doing a great job.

Electricity, water, and every other thing provided by the government were in the best of conditions in every single area but surely, the taxes being collected was not little either.

This was one of the reasons why not everyone could live here. Even the things being sold were more expensive than in most cities.

He was thinking of a way to start making money. With the amount he had capital was in no way a problem.

Still in thought, he noticed a man walk out of a shop, which was quite large. He didn’t seem happy and slightly pale. He looked like someone decent, so Charles took the initiative to approach him.

“Good day, sir,”

“Good day son, how are you doing? Seeing your condition, I’ll say not too well.”

Charles brought his gaze to his broken hand before looking back at the man.

“I’m recovering well.”

“That’s good,” the man nodded.

“But sir, you don’t look so good either.”

“I guess so,” he chuckled wryly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back on my feet in a few days,” the man responded doubting his own words and Charles noticed this.

“If I may, what happened?”

The man’s eyebrows furrowed slightly wondering if it was okay to tell the boy in front of him. He needed to talk to someone about this and his wife was certainly not that person.

But he was a young adult so maybe it wasn’t bad and by the look on his face, he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

After releasing a sigh, he voiced out.

“You see that shop over there. It has been run by me for almost 2 years now, and I have to say that it helped me a lot and many people are customers of the shop because I along with the former sellers have provided them with great quality and service. So you expect a lot to come from it, but sadly, I have to leave this city due to personal reasons, and I’m just worried if the next person who takes over, also keeps its reputation.”

Charles fell into contemplation hearing this and shortly after, a smile appeared on his face.

“I’d like to take over your position, so where do we start?”

The man frowned slightly before shaking his head. “I know you're trying to make a joke to cheer me up but this is something very serious.”

“You’re mistaken. I’m very serious,” the look in Charles's eyes said it all.

The man was surprised because no one his age would normally show interest in something like this and he felt that Charles was still young to endure the difficulties that came with it.

“I admire your……”

“Sir, I don’t have all day. You said that you needed someone to maintain the reputation of the shop you’ve come to love over these two years. Well, believe it or not, but he’s standing right in front of you. So are you going to let him go or not?”

Something about the way Charles talked made him believe his words. He still had some doubts but he went along.

“Fine, but there’s a problem. You’ll have to pay an annual fee or monthly fee for renting the shop and it’s by no means small because the shop's reputation and rating is also high.”

“Take me to where I’ll be processing all this,” Charles replied nonchalantly.

The man was still hesitant but he believed that seeing it himself would be more effective than him trying to talk him out and explain things.

“Follow me then,” he voiced out as they both began walking

“It isn’t far so there’s no need to take a ride there, but with your condition, I think we should do that,” he proposed.

“I can walk just fine. Let’s get going.”

With that, they both began heading to a destination unknown to him. After going past many buildings and taking several turns, they finally stopped in front of a large 10-storey.

They proceeded to walk into the building and a lot of people were here. The company has a lot of shops and houses spread across the city which they rent out for an annual or monthly fee.

And judging by the kind of city this was, the company probably generate millions of dollars every month. It was a very great business. Whoever owned this was probably third class.

They got in front of a counter which had a woman behind it. At first glance, she assumed what they were here for and nonchalantly stretched her hand and took a form before handing it to him.

Charles read the heading.

‘Employee Enrollment Form.’

His lips twitched slightly before handing it back to her.

“That isn’t the reason I’m here.”

The woman probably in her thirties raised an eyebrow at him.

“What do you mean? Then what are you here for?”

This time, it was the man who spoke up.

“We want to rent shop E-72.”

She took the form back from him before proceeding to type some things into her system. Shortly after, a frown appeared on her face.

“Are you playing with me?”

They were both a little confused at her reaction.

“What do you mean by that?” Charles voiced out.

“Shop E-72 is too expensive for both of you.” She didn’t try to hide her irritation. The man was confused because even though the shop was expensive, which was why he brought Charles here to be told firsthand, she was making it sound way worse, so just to be sure, he asked.

“Like how much is it?”

The woman looked at him from head to toe several times in ridicule before voicing out with a grin.

“The fee for renting for a month is $15,000.”

The man’s eyes widened upon hearing this.

“Wait! Isn’t that too much? I was the former tenant of that shop and it was just a week ago I let go. How can it become so expensive?”

“Things have changed mister. You were just lucky then. It’s been re-evaluated and this is the new price. So I suggest you both leave and stop pestering me or else I’m gonna call……”

“Um, Hello.”

Charles said cutting her short as she looked towards him in annoyance.

“I never said I was going to rent it. How much can I buy it?”

‘…………’

“Eeh!”