Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 223 - Good People and Bad People
Chapter 223: Chapter 223 Good People and Bad People
Chapter 223: Chapter 223 Good People and Bad People
After listening to Wang Junpeng’s grand speech, Xu Jie frowned, weighing the pros and cons… This was a civilization war of life and death, after all. If living standards declined, it could only be endured forcibly, since humans surely couldn’t surrender to the aliens, could they?
A while later, he got pumped up like he’d been injected with chicken blood and bellowed, “Afraid of a drop in living standards? Nonsense! At worst, we’ll repair cellphones for free! Don’t we still have a lot of savings? As long as we don’t starve to death, what’s there to be afraid of? Let’s go donate!”
Wang Junpeng was left speechless. Having worked with this roommate for so long, he realized this guy was heartless and not as focused on making money, unlike him who was more passionate about the financial side…
In this repair shop, Wang Junpeng needed to handle many things, or else the business would have failed a long time ago.
Put positively, he was generous; put negatively, he was like a fool ripe for the picking.
“If it weren’t for me, Wang Junpeng, this guy would have been bankrupt, or kicked out by someone else by now… Damn it, why am I so kindhearted?”
His eyes flickered for a moment, and he said softly, “That’s right, the current prices of living supplies in the supermarket haven’t yet seen a major adjustment… When I was buying spices earlier, it didn’t seem like the prices had gone up by much…”
“What do you mean?”
Wang Junpeng clapped his hands, “That’s it! Definitely. To reduce the backlash from the general public, such price adjustments will surely be gradual, not done all at once… but the eventual increase in prices is bound to happen.”
“Can we buy up a large amount of living supplies, especially some of the less extravagant luxury goods, then sell them at a profit after the prices go up? After all, these types of things… the government hasn’t prohibited them, right? Private transactions are not illegal.”
Xu Jie was startled, thinking that this guy was even daring to take advantage of the government?
He exclaimed loudly, “Are you mad, trying to profit from a national crisis! No, I absolutely won’t do it. Even if things get more expensive, they won’t starve us to death. It’s fine to reserve some goods for personal use, but reselling… let’s forget about it!”
“If you resell these things, wouldn’t the government arrest you?”
“…”
Wang Junpeng fell silent for a moment, feeling slightly hesitant.
This did carry certain risks.
But he felt the risks were manageable. If he thought about it, with the entire civilization of five hundred thousand people, what would it count for if he bought a bit more now? He surely would not be the only one doing this.
“…There isn’t a law against this, is there?”
“The population of five hundred thousand is akin to a small or medium-sized city where people generally have low wages, and prices are not high. With luxury goods, if a person spends 400-500 yuan a month, that adds up to two hundred million yuan.”
“I have less than two hundred thousand yuan on hand; even if I put it all in, it wouldn’t even account for one-thousandth of the entire civilization’s market. Plus, if I spread out the investments, there shouldn’t be too much disturbance…”
“Just wait a few months, sell them after prices double, and you can make an easy two to three hundred thousand!”
Thinking this way, it felt like picking up money from the ground, much faster than repairing cellphones!
Wang Junpeng panted heavily, feeling that he couldn’t miss this opportunity to make a fortune.
Seeing the cunning plan forming in Wang Junpeng’s mind, Xu Jie shrank back a little and persuaded, “Old Peng, you better not mess around. Think about it, if our entire civilization is defeated, do you think the aliens will be polite to you? What will money be worth then? Just a pile of useless paper! Even if you make money, you won’t be able to spend it.”
“No, if we are defeated, money indeed becomes useless!”
Wang Junpeng raised his head and said loudly, “But what if we win? Our entire civilization will usher in a period of rapid development! Won’t money be useful then? If we don’t seize this opportunity to make money, what other chances do we have?”
“No, I just can’t bring myself to profit from a national crisis… I advise you not to get involved either,” Xu Jie shook his head with a hint of disdain, “Not only will I not join in, I’m going to donate!”
He felt somewhat alienated from his good friend. In his opinion, what’s the big deal about making a little less money? How could one do such a thing?
Anyway, Xu Jie was absolutely not going to do it!
“Profit from a national crisis?! This is investment, don’t you understand?” Wang Junpeng couldn’t help but get irritated, defensively retorting, “I haven’t harmed anyone, damn it, you idiot!”
Xu Jie wasn’t stupid though; as an intellectual, he couldn’t be easily swayed. He said in a mocking tone, “Yes, indeed, you haven’t hurt any specific individual, but you’ve hurt the collective! By stockpiling a ton of goods, the price of supplies rises even faster! The government has to produce more living materials, indirectly reducing the resources available for developing weapons.”
“If this isn’t profiteering from a national crisis, what is?”
“I’m not colluding with aliens, nor am I corrupt. How is this profiteering from a national crisis?! I’m just stockpiling supplies with foresight!”
“Why don’t I stockpile? Am I not as smart as you?”
“Because you’re stupid!”
Two good friends, who had been through a long hibernation together, finally came to blows at this moment.
They argued, red in the face and unable to persuade the other…
After half an hour of arguing, Wang Junpeng said angrily, “So be it, then. You take your broad road, and I’ll cross my own log bridge! Transfer 150,000 from the basic account to me, and the store is yours—I’m done with it, you can manage on your own!”
In a year and a half’s time, plus being the first to take the risk, they made 300,000 in total. Splitting it evenly seemed fair; neither took advantage of the other.
“You can quit if you want, I don’t owe you anything!” Xu Jie jumped up furiously, “Damn you Wang Junpeng, even if you become a billionaire in the future, I will still look down on you! Because I am going to donate today!”
“Even if I go bankrupt, I’ll still be more noble than you!”
“Fuck!”
With a loud thump, Wang Junpeng, overcome by anger, kicked a stool and stormed out.
He knew he was partly in the wrong, but now he was so angry and impulsive, he desperately needed a victory to prove his wisdom.
Wang Junpeng was not the only one of his kind; the Earth Era was certainly not short of clever people, but most of them would act like Xu Jie, choosing not to go down that path even if they knew how.
However, the new civilization was not perfect; there would always be a few opportunists.
When Wang Junpeng entered the supermarket, he noticed that customer traffic had increased by more than 30% compared to usual. Fortunately, most ordinary people of the Earth Era dined in communal canteens, and bagged commodities like rice and flour were not very popular, so there was no sign of a mass panic-buying frenzy.
Generally, everyone believed that the government wouldn’t let them starve. But there were still some who were buying instant noodles, sausages, seasonings, snacks, cosmetics, and other non-essential luxury goods.
These supplies could significantly improve the quality of life but were not absolute necessities. Due to limited productivity on the spaceship, prices were high, so these goods were considered small luxuries. And these were precisely the targets of Wang Junpeng’s business venture this time.
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