Darkstone Code

"No... no money?" The honest worker looked a bit surprised and extended his pinky to clean his ear. "You're not joking with me, sir?"

Calling foreigners "sir" has already become a very common phenomenon, and in some more extreme regions, it's rumored people have started calling foreigners "master". The atmosphere here isn't as tense, and Lynch doesn't want anyone to do that.

"Sir" is a term of respect, but "master" is not.

So if any local calls Lynch's employees "master", Lynch will demand that the employee correct the local, they're just "sir", not "master".

Looking at the earnest local pointing to the small iron pot, he asked, "Can I pick it up and take a look?" As he spoke, he pulled out the work permit hanging around his neck, "I'm a worker here, I'm about to be promoted to a level two worker soon, I can earn money!"

He seemed to be afraid that the foreign salesman wouldn't believe him, so he opened his work permit, which showed the start date of his work.

Currently, there are some interesting similarities between Nagariel and the Federation on certain issues, for example, people sneaking onto construction sites for work, so it's necessary to issue work permits to workers here as well.

Every day they have to show their work permits to enter the factory, each permit is linked to one person, which effectively prevents those who want to sneak in for a job from doing so.

The foreign merchant nodded, "Of course, you can pick it up and take a look, it's the customers' right."

Watching the honest local pick up the small iron pot, a finely made cooking pot that can hold quite a lot, he had never seen such a fine iron pot locally.

He also tapped it with his finger, and the echo it produced had a special resonance.

Solid, beautiful, with a heavy feel, the honest local didn't believe it could be for free.

He put it back, with some longing.

He had been working here for almost a hundred days and had improved his family's living conditions, bringing some color back to his family's faces, and even managed to save some money.

This appreciation of Garrell has suddenly made him, and many others like him who had a saving habit, "wealthy."

They have exchanged their Garrell for Federation Sol and even Fla in various ways, so he indeed has money.

He wanted to do something more for his family, like buying a small iron pot.

Until now, his family had been using a broken sheet iron pot, the kind that could have a dent if pressed hard enough with a hand.

The pot, with its uneven surface and numerous repairs, should have been retired as well.

As a "rich man" with a stable job, his urge to consume had actually been secretly fostered. Now that he saw something he wanted, the desire to shop started spreading uncontrollably.

"Sir, you just said it... doesn't cost money?" The honest local asked.

The foreign merchant nodded, picking up the small iron pot and tapping it, "There are two ways you can get it..." Seeing the honest local nod repeatedly, indicating he was listening attentively.

"The first method is you can pay money for it, it only costs nineteen ninety-eight Federation Sol, which is equivalent to twenty days of your work pay..."

Upon hearing that it costs twenty Federation Sol, the honest local was somewhat discouraged, it was too much.

He didn't think this small iron pot was worth that much, he could spend less and get a decent iron pot instead of buying such an upscale small iron pot.

Because of the price, the iron pot had subconsciously become a "high-end" product in his eyes, when in reality, this thing is found in many households in the Federation; it's just a normal boiling pot.

"The second method is you don't need to come up with so much money at once to buy it. I heard you're getting promoted to level two soon?"

The honest local nodded repeatedly, "Yes, next week I will be a level two worker."

The foreign merchant continued, "You can take it now, but we will deduct a portion from your daily wages; we call this payment method 'installment' payment."

He wrote and drew with a pen on a notebook before saying, "Because you're about to be promoted to a level two worker, I can offer you a hundred-day installment, and each day you'll only need to pay twenty-eight cents of Federation Sol to take it away."

"After a hundred days, you'll fully own it, and if for any reason you lose the ability to pay and terminate the payment before that, we'll take the pot back."

Learning about the concept of "installment" for the first time, the honest local was immediately attracted, "I just need twenty-eight cents of Federation Sol each day to take it home?"

He found it hard to understand. He currently earned a Federation Sol a day, and even after paying for this pot, he still had seventy-two cents left each day, sufficient to support his family and handle any unexpected expenses.

This small iron pot became increasingly adorable in his eyes. He hesitated for quite a while, and after discussing why it was "twenty-eight cents," he finally decided to buy the small iron pot. It's just a small reduction in his daily income, but he could enjoy the lifestyle change such a high-end item brings sooner.

As he was about to leave, the foreign merchant asked with a smile, "Aren't you planning to take this exquisite steel ladle with you as well?"

"For the same hundred days, you'll just need to pay six more cents each day, and you can take both away..."

...

A few minutes later, the honest local, holding an iron pot and a ladle, joyfully entered the construction site. He repeatedly washed them under the envious and jealous eyes of the people.

If those two items weren't made of steel, he might have scrubbed them so much that they lost their shine and damaged the internal structure (peeled off).

Under the curious inquiries of some people, the small shop at the construction site entrance was crowded after work. To prevent anyone from taking things they shouldn't, the construction site also arranged for two armed security guards to keep watch up close.

The shopping desire was intense, even though they had money in a material-deprived environment, they couldn't necessarily find a way to release this shopping desire.

But now, these problems aren't issues anymore. Lynch helped them find this way, and it also caters to their consumption needs.

Every day, a little money is deducted, and then a brand new, expensive item can be taken home. They don't find this unacceptable; on the contrary, they find it's pretty good this way.

Even though some people think that paying in installments costs more than paying in one go, they ultimately choose to accept this method because it doesn't hurt much, and they don't even perceive it as a loss, especially when some people started actively asking for their salaries to be settled in Federation Sol.

Surprisingly, in just one day, a large number of products were sold out, making it hard for anyone to believe that this was still the impoverished Nagariel.

"I really can't understand, Mr. Lynch, why do people develop such an astonishing desire to buy?"

In the evening, some merchants gathered at Lynch's place. They had sold these products to their workers, following Lynch's approach and method.

They quickly sold a large number of products, completely shattering their perception of the poverty here.

Lynch sat in a chair with his legs crossed, a cigarette in his right hand, and everyone's eyes were fixed on him.

His right elbow rested on the armrest of the chair, his forearm almost vertical, and he turned his wrist over, speaking with a faint smile, "Gentlemen, when you make a sum of money, what would you do?"

The merchant who asked the question immediately replied, "I would go out and enjoy myself, find some girls, or do something else."

Lynch pointed at him, "Exactly, the purpose of making money is to better enjoy. Based on this viewpoint, I have another perspective that might not align with the mainstream views..."

He looked at the others, and each one assumed a posture of listening attentively. Lynch flicked the ash from his cigarette and continued, "Upon receiving their salary, people subconsciously have a 'revenge spending' tendency to alleviate the stress their work brings them."

"This 'revenge spending' can be very capricious. The more tiring the work and the greater the pressure, the stronger the revenge mentality, making people more likely to lose their reason."

"Previously, these people didn't show their desire to consume because nothing matched their consumption mindset."

"But when something that aligns with their spending psyche appears, they become irrational, just like you, like those housewives in the Federation."

"Goods, entertainment, and culture are all consumable things, and these items can all be taken out and sold afterward."

"Furthermore, we can even lower the total return for installments a bit, allowing more people to participate. This way, we can sell the goods and also strongly bind these workers to stay with us."

"When their lives are dominated by installment payments, they can no longer leave the jobs we provide because if they lose their job, even just for a month!"

Lynch raised a finger, with a noticeable sense of confidence as if everything was under control, "They will fall from the Celestial Kingdom into Hell. Even if you don't treat them well, cut some of their pay, or make the meals a bit worse, they won't be like those worker masters in the Federation."

"They won't unite in mass strikes, won't parade or protest, and there's no Workers' Union to stand up and sue on their behalf until you go bankrupt."

"Here, there's nothing. They will plead and thank you for giving them a job."

"For us, this place is a Celestial Kingdom!"