Chapter 117: Unpaid Wages and Unaffordable Gifts

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's not that I, old Johnson, am bullying the girls. It's just that, after my calculations, we didn't make any money this Christmas. It's $200 each, which totals to $400. I really can't afford to pay this money."

"Child, please don't cry. If you're willing, you can take $105 worth of merchandise from my shop to offset your wages, alright? You can sell them, and then the money will come out, won't it?"

When Carter followed Lily to Jensen's Gift Shop on 14th Street, he saw many people gathered there. In the midst of the crowd, a middle-aged man with slightly gray temples was trying hard to console a girl who was squatting on the ground, hugging her knees and sobbing. Two puzzled-looking police officers stood awkwardly by their side.

In the face of such disputes, the two police officers were actually quite helpless. It's not that the employer didn't want to pay, but they genuinely couldn't afford it. What could they do? They couldn't let the employer pay the wages and then starve themselves, could they?

"But you have difficulties, and we also have difficulties! The wages were agreed upon, and you can't withhold our pay just because your business isn't doing well!"

"Alice, Carter's here!"

Hearing the cry of her companion, Lily immediately called out from outside the crowd. And as soon as they heard Carter's name, the crowd instinctively made way for him.

This rehearsed action caught Carter slightly off guard. When did he gain such prestige in Douglas?!

Nevertheless, seeing that several of the parties involved were looking at him, Carter nodded gently at the onlookers before striding into the scene.

"Mr. Cabluck, please don't misunderstand. I really didn't intend to withhold the girls' wages. It's just that if I pay them the full $400, my family won't be able to make ends meet this month."

Seeing Carter approaching confidently, Jensen seemed a bit nervous. His attention shifted completely from Alice, who was squatting on the side, to Carter.

The two police officers also nodded lightly and greeted Carter.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Here, have a smoke! Mr. Jensen, you too. Take your time explaining."

As a habit, Carter took out a cigarette, handed it to the two police officers he had met before, then gave one to Jensen before walking into the gift shop.

What met his eyes was a sea of red. Red Christmas hats, stockings, and in the middle of the shop, a Christmas tree hung with small decorations. Unlike the common artificial trees seen in the future, there stood a real pine tree in the middle of the shop. The floor underneath was dug through, planted directly in the soil. Perhaps intentionally designed when the shop was built.

The branches of the tree were well-trimmed, and colorful lights wrapped around it, although, perhaps due to the lights being off, it looked a bit messy. Among the lights hung small bells and gift boxes. The floor around the tree was also piled with gift boxes.

"Mr. Black, this is our shop's revenue book. You can take a look at our December revenue. I assure you, Mr. Jensen, that every word I say is sincere. Our total revenue for the month is only $27,600, and after deducting the $27,000 in purchase costs, we have less than $600 in profit."

Grabbing the revenue book from the counter as Carter entered the shop, Jensen hurriedly flipped to the December records page, explaining to Carter while showing him. Meanwhile, he kept explaining:

"My family of six has a minimum monthly living expense of $700. Giving $200 to them, we've already prepared to go without meat for two months. But if it's $400..."

"Weren't the purchase costs prepaid? Or did you purchase goods on credit?"

Taking the ledger handed over by Jensen, Carter flipped through it first and then asked.

"They were purchased on credit. Last year's market wasn't good, and the number of customers at the gift shop was pitifully low. The manufacturers understood the situation, so they allowed us to purchase on credit and pay back when sold."

Hearing Carter's reasonable question, Jensen breathed a sigh of relief.

"In that case, can't the unsold goods be returned?"

After looking through the previous records, if the accounts weren't falsified, Jensen's words were indeed not lies. And buying on credit wasn't something new, but thinking about many future commodity supply models, Carter pondered.

Since they can't sell, can't they return the goods? This way, the pressure of returning the money would be reduced. Just looking at the Christmas decorations in the store that hadn't been removed, Carter knew that Jensen still had a lot of inventory. In other words, if he could have such a financially straitened day, it's because he bought too much!

"Of course, that's impossible. These gifts aren't perishable goods like food and drinks. And even for food and drinks, only products close to expiration can be returned by the manufacturer. But even then, they would replace them with new products, not refund the money."

"That makes sense! Alright, let's step outside."

Closing the ledger and handing it back to Jensen, Carter didn't inquire further about why he bought so much. Strictly speaking, Jensen didn't buy much stock.

With $27,000 in goods, at a high estimate of 40% profit, the value of his goods was only $37,800, spread across ten thousand households in Douglas. On average, each household spent a little over $3, not even $4, which would have been consumed. Moreover, some better-off families wouldn't have spent just $3 on Christmas gifts.

Christmas gifts, also part of the Christmas customs in European and American countries, were unavoidable expenses. Even Anna, who was now 18, received small gifts like scarves and umbrellas this Christmas.

Of course, Carter had some too.

In other words, during Christmas, it was the most profitable time of the year for gift shops. With good conditions, the profit generated by a single Christmas could easily match their earnings for the entire year.

So, stocking up before Christmas wasn't wrong at all. To cope with the Christmas buying frenzy, old Jensen hired Lily and Alice as part-time workers, which was also understandable!

So, seeing the scene in front of him was quite interesting. This could only mean that many households in Douglas were already so strapped for cash that they had to cut back on Christmas gifts.

Economy! Economy! It's really the economy!

"Carter."

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

As Carter walked out of the store, he gave the two girls who were eagerly awaiting some reassuring eye contact before turning to the onlookers and shouting loudly:

"Everyone, I'd like to ask how many of you didn't buy Christmas gifts for your children last year? Or how many children didn't receive Christmas gifts?"

With Carter's loud shout, the adults in the crowd remained unmoved. But among the seven children, three raised their hands, only to be immediately pressed down by their parents.

The three mischievous kids pouted, wanting to say something but were "shh"ed by their parents. Although the scene didn't seem to change in the end, and there was no direct response to how many families hadn't purchased Christmas gifts.

But judging by the reactions of the children and the somewhat embarrassed, awkward, and unnatural expressions on many adults' faces, Carter had already gotten the answer he wanted.

Faced with the not-so-optimistic situation, Carter sighed helplessly:

"Alright then."