He glanced at the roll of money Julian put back into his pocket, estimating that there were still more than two hundred, maybe less than three hundred. He stacked the bills on the table, picked them up, and examined each one carefully. No doubt, they were real money—ten-dollar bills from the Empire. The front displayed the imperial royal emblem, while the back depicted the AT-11 cleaning war machine. His fingertips glided over the printed portions, fully feeling the unique texture from the engravings, confirming it was the real deal!
Holding the money with some confusion, he looked up at Julian. Julian casually pulled out a chair and sat down. "Mr. Kreen, I sincerely thank you for providing me with a place to rest and eat when I was at my wits' end. It changed my life.
"The extra fifty dollars is my personal way of expressing gratitude for your help when I needed it the most. This is my heartfelt appreciation, so I hope you will accept it. Additionally, I would like you to write a receipt and declare the contract void."
At this moment, Mr. Kreen finally regained his senses. He looked at Julian with a complex expression, unsure where this lucky kid had found a source of wealth. From the way he acted so generously, it was clear that fifty dollars might no longer be a significant amount in his eyes.
As a capitalist, Mr. Kreen held a profound reverence for capitalism. If Julian were a poor boy, he would have shown his disdain and leaned forward, spitting on Julian's face. But now, Julian was a wealthy man, and Mr. Kreen had to act in accordance with his status and that of his counterpart—elegantly and nobly, without being vulgar.
After considering it, he nodded, took out a piece of pure white stationery, and wrote a receipt for one hundred dollars with a pen soaked in ink, adding the date, signing it, and stamping it. Then he turned around and retrieved Julian and Graf's contract from a filing cabinet, applying a rarely used "void" stamp on every page multiple times.
From this moment on, Julian and Graf had no further ties to the station.
Julian greatly appreciated Mr. Kreen's decisiveness and extended his hand for a handshake. "Speaking of which, we will be doing business again. In about six days, two thousand five hundred boxes of low alcohol wine will arrive from other places. I hope to store them at the station's warehouse for a couple more days, as I need to arrange transportation."
Mr. Kreen was taken aback. Two thousand five hundred boxes of low alcohol wine, even at the lowest price of six dollars a box, made him gasp. He extended his other hand, gripping Julian's right hand tightly, a "sweet" smile appearing on his face. "No problem, absolutely no problem. Customer requests are our service's core principle. Any goods that arrive will have a three day waiting period for transfer. If it exceeds that limit, it's fine; the cost of a warehouse is only a trivial five dollars a day."
"Also, Mr. Julian might not know, but my son is in the transportation business!"
The power of capital is boundless yet silent.
This huge leap from Julian to Mr. Julian was accomplished with just one hundred fifty dollars and two thousand five hundred boxes of goods. Money permeates every layer of society, and the scariest part is that people often fail to realize how money subtly influences their judgment and thoughts at all times.
"That's even better. I'll come back again once the goods arrive," Mr. Kreen said, mentioning his son, and Julian remembered the school he had mentioned. "By the way, you mentioned there was a school that could teach me literacy?"
"Yes, there is such a thing," Mr. Kreen immediately loosened his hands, took a business card from his drawer, and handed it over with both hands.
Julian took it and glanced; it was not far from where he currently lived. In his dreams, something had always said, "Knowledge changes destiny," and he deeply believed in that. Knowledge is a formidable thing, just like money. When you don't have it, you might not feel any difference between yourself and others. But once you possess knowledge, you realize that you may not be the same as others.
After bidding farewell to Mr. Kreen, Julian took Graf to the so called "tutoring class." Not only did he need to learn to read, but Graf also needed to, as did Dave and all illiterate members of their community association.
What he aimed to do was definitely not business in Ternell City, nor was it to sell low-alcohol wine; he needed a team that could help him reach the pinnacle of the world. He wanted to be a member of the ruling class in this world!
...
The literacy class has been arranged, costing a considerable sum of money, and with Mr. Kreen's support, his daughter is very attentive. In this capitalist world, the wealthy deserve respect and privilege in society; after all, money is people's father.
During the day, Julian was busy watching the blacksmith create large distillers, purchasing some necessary equipment and tools, and at night he attended the literacy class with his fellowship assosiation members. It must be said that compared to the square characters in the dream world, the letters in this world are indeed not difficult to learn. It's just like how people can speak, if you know enough letters and understand how to spell them, reading becomes basically no problem.
What remains is to increase reading volume, memorize more vocabulary, and practice writing. Every member of the fellowship knows that such an opportunity is hard to come by, knowledge, like money, is an expensive resource. For a rapid literacy class like this, everyone needs to pay fifteen bucks in tuition, which is truly an astronomical figure for these youths, at least before they joined the fellowship.
Whenever they have a little money in their pockets, they will hand it over to their parents at home to improve their living conditions, buy a piece or two of clothing for their younger siblings, or treat them to some good food. Therefore, when it comes to learning literacy and writing, every youth takes it very seriously, no one needs to remind them, and they absorb knowledge like sponges.