Darkstone Code
Chapter 74: As long as flies fly around, they can always find a cracked egg.

Chapter 74: As long as flies fly around, they can always find a cracked egg.

The two of them walked in the Warehouse District piled high with goods, looking at the myriad items, Mr. Fox was both happy and somewhat troubled.

These things cannot be stacked together; they are not uniformly sized items. If they are to be stacked together, supports must be built, which means making a frame for each item to ensure it won’t get crushed under pressure.

This requires a considerable amount of money, not to mention various labor costs and machinery expenses. Once they’re all piled together, taking one out would be a huge task.

Ultimately, they can only be laid out flat in the spacious warehouse as they are now, with some stackable items having a few small items placed on top.

From tables and chairs to artworks and oil paintings, the items here almost cover all the things an average person might use in a lifetime. Lynch even saw a set of silver cutlery.

White, fine ivory handles with pure silver frames, a total of six sets of knives, forks, plates, and bowls placed in a large box, giving a very pleasing impression.

Perhaps noticing Lynch’s gaze, Mr. Fox smiled and said, "That was sent by an old lady, who said it was a gift from her son when she retired. But this year her son’s business ran into some trouble, urgently needing money, so..."

Lynch nodded, not because he could understand, but because he knew that everyone appearing here was in desperate need of money. Regardless of their reasons, their purpose in coming here was the same.

"I offered her seventeen hundred bucks for the cutlery set. If you like it, you can take it home..." He could see Lynch seemed quite fond of the cutlery set. After all, a couple thousand bucks was not a big deal for him, so he decided to be generous for once.

But Lynch shook his head, "The price you offered was a bit high. Ivory is not valuable, and silver is not valuable. Adding two non-valuable things together does not make them valuable."

In this world, the land area is broader, with many uninhabited regions untouched by humans and technology, maintaining nature’s most primitive state.

Ivory, which is strictly prohibited from transport and sale in another world, is just a common mid-to-high-grade material here and is not considered scarce.

Mr. Fox was a bit unclear; he had seen similar ivory and silver cutlery sets in some stores, with prices easily running two or three thousand, or even three to five thousand, which was jaw-dropping. Considering this set had six pieces, he felt that offering over a thousand bucks was a bit of a stretch, but Lynch thought it was still too much.

"The lady you mentioned must have gone to an antique shop first before coming here..." Lynch lifted his foot and continued walking while speaking, "Mr. Fox, I don’t know if you have any other views on your work, but I feel work is work; personal emotions are private matters that shouldn’t be mixed."

"You have the right to sympathize and pity others, but we cannot transform this sympathy and pity into economic value by pricing it and filling it into our business. This will cause many issues for everyone!"

Many people in power were immature when they initially rose to their positions. Their behavior appeared somewhat juvenile, as they couldn’t distinguish between things that could be expressed and those that couldn’t.

For Mr. Fox, he might have merely pitied an old lady, valuing her collateral a bit higher than he should have. However, this collateral agreement might not pass approval from the bank, thus blocking a loan of around a thousand bucks, which could consequently affect Lynch’s earnings of approximately one hundred and fifty to two hundred bucks.

Rolling this money over would lead to much more loss. Meanwhile, Mr. Fox himself would lose a lot of money, all due to an overflow of sympathy.

"Young Mr. Fox seems to have a different opinion..." Lynch noticed Mr. Fox’s son wore a disapproving expression, so he casually asked.

Mr. Fox looked at his son beside him, while young Mr. Fox pursed his lips, "We sympathized and helped an old lady. I don’t feel ashamed of it; rather, I feel proud."

Mr. Fox’s eyes gleamed slightly, and he nodded with satisfaction. In many instances, people like him who navigate the gray areas always harbor an unusual mindset.

They hope immensely that their children are stronger, more ruthless, and cruel, without any weaknesses, and unafraid of challenges. Simultaneously, they hope their children are kind, friendly, like an angel.

Perhaps this is the complexity of human nature. Facing his son’s words, Mr. Fox looked back at Lynch with satisfaction.

It was not a provocation, just curiosity about Lynch’s response, while he pondered himself.

Lynch smiled, "I respect your attitude toward the world, but first we need to understand if the world is truly as we see it."

"First, families capable of presenting such cutlery set will not likely resolve their issues merely by pawning a set of ivory silver cutlery. If their problems could be resolved with just a couple thousand bucks, they wouldn’t need to resort to a financial company for a solution."

When Lynch voiced this, both Mr. Fox and his son were momentarily stunned. They had overlooked this minor issue—a family utilizing cutlery worth thousands needing to pawn something to weather difficulties—a couple thousand bucks is of no practical use to them.

It’s like the cooperation between Mr. Fox and Lynch; prior to this, he did not favor working with Lynch, mostly because Lynch could not contribute financially—they knew Lynch had about ten thousand bucks at hand, but this amount was meaningless for Mr. Fox.

After Lynch spoke these words, the expressions on both of their faces changed slightly.

Lynch extended two fingers, "Secondly, it seems you did not have it verified for authenticity..." Mr. Fox and young Mr. Fox both turned a bit awkwardly, finally having Mr. Fox nod.

They have been incredibly busy lately with no time to handle such matters. Furthermore, for the father and son whose assets continue to expand, even if it turns out to be fake, the loss is insignificant, and it doesn’t even count as a loss.

At least, they gain spiritual satisfaction from helping the old lady; their character and soul are enhanced. Even if they can’t get the money back and the item is fake, it’s actually a minor concern.

The issue is that Lynch had pointed this out, causing a feeling as if children mistakenly thought they did good but ended up causing harm, leaving them feeling helpless.

They are not children but adults, and thus only feel embarrassed.

Lynch continued, "A poor old lady, a piece of collateral of whose authenticity we still have no idea, a story sounding full of holes..." His smile turned slightly mocking, as he looked at young Mr. Fox, "Do you still feel proud for what you did now?"

There was a brief silence among the three of them. Young Mr. Fox hung his head, while Mr. Fox contemplated. Lynch allowed them time to think it through and then sighed, "These perspectives are from a business and work viewpoint. If we encounter someone in need of help and if we can, then we should indeed offer support."

"Remember, we only assist those truly in need, not frauds. In the upcoming period, I believe many scammers will attempt to bring worthless items here. You’d better find some knowledgeable people or the bank loans might not proceed smoothly."

"For items you cannot ascertain their authenticity, deal with them all as if they are fake..." He spoke as he continued to stride forward, "Where did we leave off before?"

Mr. Fox and his son hurriedly followed, "We were talking about handling these items in the warehouse..."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.