City of Time: Falling into the kill zone at the start

Chapter 048 'Effective Returns'

It's only natural for Lu Chen to have this idea.

—When Lu Chen was heavily in debt and needed a lot of time, scavenging was indeed a good option.

But if you really look into it, the only advantage of scavenging is that it allows you to gain "time" faster.

Apart from that, it has no other advantages.

The investment is very high—a pickup truck [240 days], and the cost of leaving the city once [30 days] or more;

Extremely risky – outside the city there is no legal oversight, and the slightest mistake could cost you your life;

Moreover, scavenging outside the city does not provide a stable way to gain [time].

If you're lucky, like Lu Chen and Yu this time, you might be able to retrieve a hibernation pod—and a rare, special one at that—you'll naturally make a fortune.

But most of the time, they probably just pick up scraps to make a living.

Scavengers, you know;

To put it bluntly, it's basically going out of town to collect scraps.

This makes scavenging very inefficient.

— They risked their lives to explore the city, only to end up barely making ends meet?

The risks and rewards are clearly not commensurate.

If he had to choose between a coal mine, a power plant, and scavenging outside the city, Lu Chen would definitely choose scavenging.

But now, there's an unexpected windfall of gold that can be used to buy assets.

Given better options, Lu Chen naturally hopes to acquire more time more easily and safely.

...

Yu did not rush to answer Lu Chen's question.

Jade's apartment is really too cramped.

It's not just about width.

The narrow width alone doesn't really affect the two people sitting and chatting.

But while it's narrow, it's also too short.

The shelf, which was one meter high, meant that even when Lu Chen was sitting cross-legged, he had to look up from time to time to keep an eye on it.

Perhaps noticing Lu Chen's awkwardness, or perhaps in a good mood, she wanted to go out for a walk.

Finally, Yu waved his hand and decided to treat Lu Chen to a good meal.

—It's still that same basic sandwich shop that uses two slices of black bread, a little bit of pickled vegetables, and a slice of "luncheon meat-like" sandwich.

Lu Chen couldn't taste anything, so he just swallowed it whole and then looked at Yu with great interest.

Yu, however, ate the sandwich slowly and deliberately, and then leisurely lit a cigarette.

Seeing the anxious look on Lu Chen's face, and with a rather wicked sense of humor, he lit another one for Lu Chen.

He was full, had a good time smoking, and had even teased Lu Chen, which made him happy.

That's when they started talking about the black market and the 1000g of gold.

"Farms, ranches—don't even think about it."

"There are about forty farms and ranches in the 18th district, and they are all about the same size."

"Each one is worth more than 400 years."

"And they're all taken."

Even if you can afford to pay 400 years, the other party has to be willing to sell it to you.

...

"Moreover, this [400-year] period is only for the purchase of the farm/ranch ownership."

"After acquiring the equipment, the farm needs to purchase seeds, fertilizer, lighting equipment, and matching equipment such as planters and harvesters."

"And then there's the irrigation water—you know how expensive water is."

"The ranch is similar. You need to buy calves, lambs, feed, salt bricks, milking machines, herding machines, slaughterhouses, and dairy processing workshops."

"Hiring laborers and veterinarians is also a significant expense."

"All of this requires a considerable amount of working capital."

"Without 500 years' worth of start-up capital, you simply can't run a farm or ranch."

After saying that, Yu glared at Lu Chen with annoyance.

He then raised his hand meaningfully and touched the transparent plastic box containing gold in Feng Li's inner pocket.

"I'll wait until I own 10000g of gold before I dream of being a rich landlord."

"If you take 300g of gold to the North City, you won't even get to see the farmers or ranchers."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen smiled awkwardly, feeling inexplicably embarrassed by his own naiveté.

That's true.

Farms and ranches are high-yield, high-quality assets—golden goose eggs.

Even if someone were willing to sell, the price wouldn't be too low.

Moreover, agriculture and animal husbandry—especially large-scale, mechanized agriculture and animal husbandry—are inherently money-intensive industries.

The resources within the City of Time are not particularly abundant.

Agricultural water, seeds, lighting, and fertilizer;

Livestock feed, livestock breeds, salt bricks, vaccines, etc.

In addition, there is the indispensable manual labor and large machinery...

All things considered, it would certainly be an extremely large expense.

Moreover, although Yu didn't say it directly, Lu Chen had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

Farms and ranches are inherently responsible for their own profits and losses.

If everything goes smoothly, that's fine.

The crops and vegetables grown, the cattle and sheep raised, and the dairy products should all fetch good prices.

But if problems arise, it's not just a matter of losing everything, but also a high probability of facing a tight cash flow.

Taking all this into account, Lu Chen felt that "500 years" was likely a conservative estimate by Yu, an understatement.

To have a certain level of resilience against risks, perhaps an additional 100 years would be needed on top of that.

Such a massive investment is clearly beyond Lu Chen's current means to afford.

Let alone now.

In the foreseeable future, Lu Chen will never become a super-rich man with assets exceeding 400 years!

Realizing this, Lu Chen lowered his head in slight disappointment.

But he quickly rallied and turned his expectant gaze once again to Yu, who was sitting opposite him.

— Farm owners and ranchers, with occupational codes 159 and 158 respectively.

Of the 243 professions in the City of Time, those numbered 180 and above belong to the propertied class.

The maximum occupational number in District 18 is Enforcement Officer No. 154—not exactly 'rich,' but definitely 'powerful.'

Between the entry-level "property owner" No. 180 and the highest-ranking No. 154 in District 18, Lu Chen had quite a few choices.

Lu Chen certainly couldn't afford the farms and ranches at 159 and 158.

But the cheaper ones certainly won't be that expensive.

such as……

"What about the Rope Hotel?"

"Is there any potential in 'Whiplash Number 180'?"

As soon as the question left his mouth, Lu Chen was taken aback.

Seeing that Yu, who was sitting opposite him, was looking at him with a half-smile and a playful look in his eyes, Lu Chen felt increasingly strange.

Previously, a 'loophole' that Lu Chen had intentionally or unintentionally overlooked resurfaced in his mind.

"hiss……"

...

"yes?"

"How exactly does the Rope Hotel make money off of 'time'?"

"--Each person spends 12 minutes per night, so it would take five people to earn 1 hour."

"Most hotels can only accommodate forty or fifty people a night, and they can't even make a profit in 10 hours!"

"The whippersnapper who owns the Rope Hotel can't even earn the naturally lost 24 hours?"

"If their income isn't even as high as those working in coal mines or power plants, how can they be considered 'property owners'?"

Seeing that Lu Chen had finally asked the question, Yu Man smiled contentedly.

With a soft hum, she lazily stretched.

Then, his smile faded slightly, and he said with a hint of seriousness, "Since we've come this far, let me take this opportunity to tell you about a new 'term'."

"—Effective benefits."

...

"The gist of it is: the parasites in the coal mine are paid [2 hours a day], and after deducting the [1 day] that naturally passes each day, they are left with only [2 hours]."

"These two hours represent the effective income of coal miners."

Similarly, the daily wage for an electric power plant is [30 minutes per day], and the effective income is [30 minutes].