Chapter Six: Information and the Future

  Made up for a chapter today, hoping everyone will forgive the past two days of no updates, and I'll definitely make up for it in the next few days.

  In today's modern society where information is highly developed, for a modern person who wants to learn more about the history of an era, there is nothing more convenient than the internet.

  However, when you need it, you will feel that the amount of resources on the domestic network is really too small. At present, Sima is in such a predicament because the limited information resources make it impossible to effectively utilize the resources he has mastered.

  Although relying on watch business to earn a fortune that could only appear in dreams for several months, it was found that this considerable wealth was still insufficient when needed.

  Although tens of thousands of dollars in income are earned every week for several months, after all, it is making money on someone else's turf. If something unexpected happens that day, Sima will probably have to bid farewell to this lucrative business with almost no capital.

  What's more, how many times did the warehouse workers finish their work at nearly midnight twelve o'clock, and almost every time Sima was startled to a cold sweat for fear of being discovered by outsiders the huge secret in Warehouse No. 3.

  Just thinking about the secret being discovered, perhaps there will be intervention from authorities or some other unexpected event, whatever it is, it's not something that Sima, an ordinary citizen, can control.

  Then, in Sima's heart, there was an urgent desire. To fulfill this desire, Sima even gave up his long-held expectations of buying a car and a house to achieve the dream of having a house and a car. He also abandoned his extravagant spending to prove himself in front of others that he was not at the end of his rope.

  Now, Sima often thinks of the time when he asked the company's boss in the name of a friend whether this warehouse was for sale, and the slightly disdainful look in the eyes of the boss who usually treated him not badly.

  Perhaps it was a subconscious sensitivity that had been building up over the past few months, but Sima felt an intense aversion to this gaze. After hesitating for a moment, he reported a price that he could barely afford, which in fact was his entire family's savings.

  Only saw the boss stunned for a few seconds before bursting into laughter:

  "This warehouse of mine can earn tens of millions in rent even if it's rented out for just a year, and your friend wants to buy it with hundreds of millions? Are you sure that kid isn't dreaming?"

  "Master, this is this month's account book, please review it."

  Gao Chuanliang respectfully placed the account book on the table with both hands, then stood aside with his hands slightly lowered and his back slightly arched.

  Gao Chuanliang knew that everything he had was built on the young master in front of him, who could even be described as mysterious. In a few months, Gao Chuanliang successfully expanded his business to several large cities outside the province, including several cities in Shanxi and even expanded to big cities like Beijing and Tianjin.

  Due to his inner doubts, Gao Chuan had carefully investigated the background of this young Master Sima in front of him, but the more he investigated, the more confused he became.

  The more he inquired, the more confusing the information seemed. These confusing pieces of information mixed together only served to further bewilder Gao Chuanliang about the identity of this young master before him, and because of this inexplicable confusion, Gao Chuanliang couldn't help but feel even more reverence for him.

  "Hmm! Old Gao, I told you I believe in you."

  Simar took over the account book and scanned it with his eyes, saying it was okay, but in his heart, he had a hard time explaining the simple reason.

  Simar couldn't understand the way of accounting in this old-fashioned ledger, and even with modern ledgers, Simar felt a bit bewildered. After all, Simar had never been exposed to anything related to accounting before.

  "Young master, this is the rule. You are the host, and there's no host who doesn't settle the bill."

  Although Gao Chuanliang was moved by the young master's trust in him, he felt a hint of fear in his heart, not because of the young master himself, but because of the unknown background of this young master, especially the family behind him.

  Anyone who knows the consequences of offending a somewhat mysterious and powerful family would sometimes make Lang feel that the name of the young master in front of him was not what he said, Sima Xing, perhaps it was just his alias.

  "Young master, as per your instructions, this month's silver has been exchanged for gold, all of which is genuine American gold. The remaining 40% has been exchanged for 99 silver ingots at the silver store. When you leave, I'll have my assistant carry them up for you."

  After a long time, Gao Chuanliang got used to the young master's special fondness for cash and silver in front of him, although he found it strange. Unlike other businessmen who usually remit money by telegraph or draft, this young master only accepted cash and silver, and personally brought the money every time. At first, he used silver dollars, but later switched to gold bars and standard silver ingots.

  Every time Gao Chuanliang saw hundreds of kilograms of gold and silver being carried onto the young master's sedan chair, he was worried about the young master's safety on the road. If these bandits outside knew that this young master in front of them had several hundred kilograms of gold and silver with him, wouldn't they swarm around like cats smelling fish?

  What can't these bandits do, who even dare to rob trains? If something happens to this young master and his family blames us afterwards, our whole family will be finished.

  To be honest, Sima is increasingly enjoying this feeling of being respected, a feeling that he has not experienced for a long time. Especially this kind of heartfelt respect is completely different from the temporary respect of those who came to do business in the past when he was in an official unit.

  When I think of the second time I gave him a watch, this tall boss was so respectful and even asked to lower the commission to 1.5%, although Sima is a bit greedy, but still understands that if you want the horse to run, you have to feed it grass, in the end, after each other's insistence, this tall boss reluctantly accepted an 18% commission.

  After several months, Sima felt that his initial choice was correct. This old boss not only did a good job but also the most important point is that it's very easy to grasp at least from his performance so far.

  "Lao Gao, what about the thing I mentioned last time?"

  When Sima was dying, he asked about it.

  "Master, as per your instructions, here are the newspapers 'Shen Bao', 'Dagong Bao' and 'Shang Bao'... from June to yesterday's papers, all in one copy each, placed right here."

  Gao Chuanliang felt a bit strange about the young master's request to prepare newspapers last time, but he still followed the young master's requirements and prepared these newspapers. Having done business for a lifetime, Gao Chuanliang understood that there were many things that couldn't be asked, and it was best not to ask.

  Moreover, this young master in front of him is very concerned about others prying into his affairs, so Gao Chuanliang thinks it's better for himself to ask less and do more.

  "Hey! Boss Li is free again today."

  As soon as Sima Gang entered the silver shop, the owner came over to greet him. In the past few months, Sima had obviously become a regular customer of these dozen or so silver shops. Every week, Sima would bring gold and silver ingots to these dozen or so silver shops to sell in exchange for cash.

  After all this time in these dozen or so silver shops, I've become a familiar face, anyway.

  "Boss Sun is here too! 99's ingot weighs 36 kilograms."

  Simar took out the well-packaged silver ingots from his bag and placed them on the counter, saying so. Simar sometimes really didn't know whether he should thank the merchant who had extracted gold and silver from the three wastes.

  Although they polluted the upstream river water, it is precisely because of their existence that the silver shops that specialize in collecting gold and silver were formed. If these silver shops did not exist, it would be extremely difficult for Sima to dispose of the gold and silver he obtained.

  "Actually, Boss Li doesn't need to go through so much trouble every time he delivers goods. For big clients like Boss Li, we usually deliver the goods directly to their doorstep."

  Sun said that he couldn't remember how many times he had suggested coming to the customer's doorstep to collect payments, actually wanting to develop customers like Li Boss into regulars for his silver shop.

  Nowadays, the competition in the cashier industry is getting fiercer than before. Keeping a big customer like this is much more powerful than keeping one hundred scattered customers.

  "Hehe! No trouble, no trouble. Anyway, there's nothing going on, so it's good to come out and get some fresh air, you know the environment in the factory."

  Simultaneously watching them verify the authenticity of the goods, Sima chuckled with Old Sun. You come to my door to collect goods, what kind of factory do you have that you can come to my door to collect goods? At that time, wouldn't you still report me as a fake goods seller?

  "Haha! Boss Li is joking, if I had your skills, I wouldn't be working as a cashier either. Even though I've changed careers."

  Sun Yan could only smile and accompany him as he watched his repeated refusal, silently calculating that in the past two months, this "Li Boss" had come nine times and traded over 400 kilograms.

  With this amount in the city, it is absolutely possible to rank first, but no one has ever heard of his name. If it weren't for the fact that no one in the city had ever heard of a robbery case, Sun Yan would have really reported it.

  Although he was worried that the silver might be of dubious origin, Sun Yan was more concerned that if he reported it to the police and they found nothing wrong, he would lose a big client. Moreover, his reputation in the industry would also be tarnished, which was the most important thing. Every industry has its own rules, no matter what.

  "Haha! The newspapers from the Republic of China era are indeed different from those today, with hardly any political tone. This is what a newspaper should be like. Most of the news about current events and politics are critiques of the government's gains and losses, while reports on national policies and people's livelihoods are abundant. Unlike modern newspapers, even local evening papers only report on meetings or sing praises, or fill up space with so-called 'people's news'."

  Simma lay on the pile of newspapers, carefully examining each one. If you want to understand the information of an era, there is nothing easier than reading the newspapers of that era.

  At least the information on this is far more abundant and authentic than what's online. From these newspapers, Sima has already discovered dozens of useful pieces of information between the lines.

  "Huh? The Army Ministry's Ordnance Bureau discussed countermeasures against the sharp rise in prices of military materials yesterday. A sharp rise in military materials?"

  Simar frowned at the few small black characters in the small square box, and the news revealed that due to the European war, the price of imported steel for military use and explosives had risen several times to dozens of times, and domestic munitions factories were already overwhelmed. The European War, the World War, Simar suddenly remembered a line from a movie

  "Is there anything more profitable than arms trade during wartime?"

  Doing arms business doesn't have the guts, but looking at the newspaper mentioning steel materials, sulfuric acid, nitric acid and other military raw materials, Sima is very willing to do this business.

  After all, these raw materials are just ordinary civilian goods. If the price is right, Sima would be happy to open up a new market for himself beyond watches.

  Simma wanted to open a new market, but the premise of this market was that it could make money. If the goods were transported to the space-time of 1915 AD and the money earned was not enough to cover the cost, this business might not be what Simma would like to do.

  After searching for relevant information online, Sima found that many materials still have some profit margins. Especially those chemical raw materials, the profit margin is generally several times or even more than ten times higher, which may be due to the modern industrial revolution in the chemical industry.

  Although he was very willing to do this kind of business, Sima thought carefully and sadly discovered a fact that this kind of business is not suitable for himself at present. The reason is simple: the characteristics of this business are large quantities and low prices, and his profit margins are all based on demand.

  However, this is precisely where I am most lacking. Firstly, the large volume of goods coming in and out will be a problem. Although it's possible to receive goods at night, there's no wall that doesn't leak wind. Once the news gets out, it'll likely spread that I'm secretly renting a warehouse. At that time, no matter what, I won't be able to stay here anymore. It would be like losing a watermelon and picking up sesame seeds.

  Moreover, even if none of these are a problem, at the other end of the space-time channel, it is likely that the same problems will be faced. Although the exit on the other side is said to be in the wilderness, the import and export of large quantities of goods will always have various inconveniences. The best solution is to build another large warehouse, but there are also issues with the confidentiality and security of the warehouse.

  After much thought, Sima had no choice but to accept the fact that for now, the only feasible option was to continue with his watch business, there was no other way.

  Unless he was willing to risk his life to do drug business, thinking of the big smoke house on Sunjiacun Street, Sima even had the idea of doing drug business. Fortunately, it was just a fleeting thought, and Sima felt that he hadn't gone crazy to that extent yet.