Buying up everything
The landlord arrived promptly after receiving the call. After some negotiation, the landlord insisted on a monthly rent of 1500 yuan.
While 1500 yuan a month might not seem like much in the future, in 2001, it was considered quite high. Zhang Wenxiu and Chen Simian tried to negotiate, but the landlord refused to budge.
Seeing this, Chen Yu approached and said, "Sir, may I have a few words with you?"
"Who's this?"
"This is my son, Chen Yu."
"Alright."
The landlord didn't pay much attention, preoccupied with his cigarette. "Both of you saw it; my shop may be small, but the location is excellent, and the space is large. It's well-suited for your business. 1500 yuan is not expensive. Look at the other shops here; they're almost 2000 yuan."
Seeing that the landlord was unyielding, Chen Yu didn't get upset. He stepped forward and said, "Sir, you can't look at it that way. While your shop has a good location, it's small and only suitable for small businesses like ours. For other types of businesses, it wouldn't work. I observed that in the past year, you've had three different tenants for this shop, and every time a tenant changes, your shop has to be vacant for a month or two. Altogether, I'd say you receive rent for only about ten months out of the year."
"Young man, you can't just say whatever you want."
"Sir, I'm not making it up. I just checked with several real estate agencies, and your shop is listed with seven of them. It seems like it's not easy to find tenants, and you're even considering selling the property. I understand that landlords like you are just looking for steady rent. As long as we pay you regularly each month, your income is guaranteed. If you push too hard for higher rent and drive one tenant away today, another tenant will transfer tomorrow. To be honest, in a year, with 12 months, you'd be lucky to receive rent for ten months."
"This..."
"Of course, sir, we also think your shop has a good location. So, how about this? We can offer a higher penalty clause. If you could lower the rent a bit, what do you think?"
After some further discussion, the landlord agreed with Chen Yu's proposal and lowered the rent from 1500 yuan to 1200 yuan.
"Mr. Landlord, it's a pleasure to do business with you."
"Pleasure doing business with you."
"Hehe, Chen, your son is impressive. He negotiated the price earlier, and now he's asking for a one-month renovation period. Quite savvy, I must say. I'm certain your son will make a lot of money in the future."
"Sir, there's a renovation period for everyone; you can't break the rules."
"Alright, alright, it's up to you. I'll give you a one-month renovation period. However, we have an agreement. If you break it, I'll have to charge you five times the monthly rent as a penalty. Don't blame me for being harsh then."
"Of course."
Everything went smoothly. That evening, both parties signed the lease contract and officially rented the shop.
The next day, Chen Yu's parents were busy looking for renovation workers. Chen Yu, on the other hand, couldn't stay idle. After taking a day off, he returned to the Lenovo Internet Cafe.
"Chen Yu, you've finally come."
"What's up, Jian Ge? Did you miss me after just one day?"
"Miss you, my ass. I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?"
"Let's start with the good news."
"The good news is that this morning, several major guilds asked if we still had the Wooma Horn for sale."
"And what's the bad news?"
"The bad news is that it seems someone has already acquired the Wooma Horn."
"Damn it..."
This bad news hit Chen Yu hard. Just a moment ago, he was planning to team up with Zhang Jianming to hunt for another Wooma Horn in the Wooma Temple.
Little did he know that someone had already obtained it.
"How did they manage to get it?"
"I don't know."
"Did they reach level 30, the highest level?"
"No, the highest level was 28."
"It's impossible. With their strength, they couldn't have killed the Wooma Taurus at level 28."
Chen Yu logged in and controlled his top-ranked "Number One in the World" Wizard character, heading back to the third floor of the Wooma Temple.
Sure enough, the Wooma Taurus was no longer there; it had been killed by someone else.
"Damn."
"We should have killed him at 12 o'clock last night."
Chen Yu cursed.
He had hoped to make more money by selling another Wooma Horn, but now, after selling just one, there seemed to be no more business left.
"Chen Yu, it's okay. We can camp at 12 o'clock tonight. We can definitely get another Wooma Horn."
"It's no use. Since someone has likely already killed the Wooma Taurus, we won't have a chance. Even if we camp there, they might clear the area."
Wooma Horn only respawns once a day.
With just the two of them and relatively weak equipment, they couldn't compete. If they clashed with others, they would likely be driven out.
"You're right."
Zhang Jianming nodded. "So, what should we do?"
"What else can we do? We can only grind monsters for equipment and sell it for money."
Chen Yu sighed.
With the Wooma Horn business gone, they had no choice but to farm equipment for sale. However, this was not an easy task. They were only a two-person team, and they couldn't take on larger bosses. They would have to grind relatively high-level monsters in the hope of obtaining valuable equipment.
Of course, this method was time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Chen Yu felt a headache coming on. Would he have to pull all-nighters like Zhang Jianming?
No, he couldn't do this mindless, labor-intensive work.
Chen Yu shook his head, rejecting the idea of farming equipment.
"Wait, we can farm skill books to sell."
"Skill books?"
"Yes, we can go to the mining area to kill the Corpse King and try to get skill books. If we find books like Fireball or Magic Shield, they can fetch a good price."
Since The Legend of Mir 2 had just launched, these skill books were considered rare items. Farming skill books from the Corpse King could be a relatively profitable venture.
However, Zhang Jianming looked at Chen Yu in amazement. "Chen Yu, have you gone crazy?"
"You're the one who's gone crazy!"
"You deny it even when I call you crazy! These skill books are available in the shops. Why bother farming for them?"
"What?"
Chen Yu was taken aback. "Are you saying that the shops sell these skill books?"
"Yes."
"They have Magic Shield?"
"Yes."
"They have Fireball?"
"Yes."
"They have...?"
"Yes."
Chen Yu blinked, feeling a bit confused.
What the heck? The Legend of Mir 2 was really something else. These were high-level skill books, and the shops had them for sale. Why couldn't they make the game a bit more challenging? This way, professional players like him had no way to thrive.
With his thoughts in turmoil, Chen Yu hurried to the bookstore owner.
Sure enough, when he checked, it was true. The bookstore had not only low-level skill books but a variety of skill books.
"I remember that in my previous life, when the new server started, skill books like Magic Shield would sell for at least one or two thousand yuan. What happened now? They're all over the place."
However, as Chen Yu pondered his next money-making venture, a sudden idea crossed his mind.
"Jianming, what if we buy up all these skill books? Do you think we can make a profit?"
"Buy up all the skill books? Are you crazy? Why would you do that?"
"Just think about it."
The more they discussed it, the more possible it seemed. Chen Yu clicked on the bookstore owner again.
Initially, there were three copies of Magic Shield available. Chen Yu bought one, and the display showed only two remaining.
Chen Yu continued to purchase the other two copies of Magic Shield, then clicked again, but there were no more Magic Shield books in the bookstore owner's inventory.
"Just as I thought."
This small experiment confirmed Chen Yu's suspicion. While the bookstore owner did have high-level skill books, there were only a few of them, likely to guide players. Once someone bought them, those skill books wouldn't refresh.
Unless a player sold the skill book back to the bookstore.
But that was unlikely. Lower-level skill books might be possible to find, but high-level skill books were always rare items.
Once they were bought, they wouldn't reappear.
"Jianming, let's buy up all these skill books."
Without further ado, Chen Yu and Zhang Jianming began a frenzy of shopping.