Chapter 16: The Artist's Hell
Money to buy everything you want...... Zhou Ming finally understood the meaning of this sentence. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. biquge。 info
Wealth, job, status, partner, longevity...... Everything can be bought with money.
On the job transaction information board in front of you, even the mayor, police chief and other high-ranking government positions in the city can be purchased with money, proving that in this world, money = omnipotence.
If you don't have money, you can't buy a job, you can't find a partner, you don't have any social status, you can only do the lowest garbage, and you are on the verge of being swept up at any time.
But in other words, doesn't Zhou Ming have a piece of money in his hand, on the career information panel, aren't there some positions that can be purchased with low prices, such as a worker in Dalin Agricultural Company in Baowan Town, this position, 1 money or 70,000 credit points can be bought, he doesn't have so many credit points, doesn't there just have one?
Zhou Ming shook his head, this money can't be spent, it represents his qualification to stay in District 52, once he loses the only money, the account balance is zero, and he becomes a "zeroer", then, what awaits him will be the tragic fate of being swept out of District 52.
"It's heaven here...... Yes, it can be called heaven, a paradise for the rich, a hell for the poor!"
But now Zhou Ming is a poor man, and the whole city is looking forward to his bankrupt poor man.
Fortunately, from the fat boss, they got the first pot of gold in this world - a total of more than 8,000 credits, and they don't have to worry about food and clothing in the short term.
As for the fat boss, will they call the police and find the police to seek justice? After Zhou Ming calculated the economic account for the fat boss, he felt that they should not call the police.
It costs money to find the police, first of all, the police fee of 500 credits/day, and secondly, the cost of mobilizing the city's surveillance and the cost of finding the database, all of which are paid by the person who reported the crime...... Therefore, in any case where the economic loss is less than 10,000 credit points, it is better to rely on yourself to find the police.
In addition, Zhou Ming grabbed so many credit points from seven or eight people, and everyone didn't grab much, how to share the cost after reporting the case is estimated to be a headache for the fat boss.
The most important thing is that the credit points on the fat bosses were originally obtained through various methods of extortion, and in the police reporting system (it doesn't cost money to report the case, but the police ask for money), there are already a lot of case records, even if they don't look for the police, some policemen who are tight on money will take the initiative to find them......
So, this is the reason why the crime rate in this city is so low, and Zhou Ming dares to eat black.
In the following month, Zhou Ming made some freelance attempts, ready to use his skills or talents to serve a job with a considerable income.
First of all, he spent more than 1,000 credits to customize a set of alloy knife carving tools, and then bought 15 pieces of wood at the price of 80 credits per piece (probably for environmental protection reasons, the price of wood is very expensive), and then set up a stall on a pedestrian street with a large flow of people in Yaoxing City, showing carving skills and selling handicrafts.
However, Zhou Ming miscalculated, and in three days, in the face of more than 10,000 pedestrians per day, he did not sell a single carving...... Even when the show was a carving show, there were many onlookers, but after watching the performance, it quickly dispersed, and none of them bought.
Could it be that the price of wood carvings is set too high?
After thinking about it, Zhou Ming lowered the price and reduced the price of 500 credits to 300 points per wood carving.
Among the onlookers, there are more people with an excited look on their faces, especially a 15 or 6-year-old pigeon-faced girl, who has been running to Zhou Ming for several days to watch him perform carving, looking at those cute and delicate wood carvings, her eyes are full of longing.
"Is it okay to carve one for me?" said the pigeon-faced girl in a small voice as she gently handed over the pink electronic card in her hand.
"Yes!"
Zhou Ming, the first business opened, was overjoyed, and asked her what style of wood carving she wanted, according to her requirements, Zhou Ming made her an angel wood carving with wings, exquisite and small wood carving, holy and beautiful angel, the pigeon face girl was very happy, after taking the wood carving, the expression of struggle and hesitation on her face, like the haze of the sun, dissipated in an instant.
With the pigeon-faced girl's good start, in the next two days, Zhou Ming sold two wood carvings in a row, and the buyers were all young girls, one of whom was a classmate brought by the pigeon-faced girl.
But on the third day, when the pigeon-faced girl ran to Zhou Ming with red eyes, handed over the wood carving in her hand, and sobbed and asked for a return, Zhou Ming was taken aback and asked, "Is there a problem with the wood carving, why do you want to return it?"
"Mom said that 300 credits is my lunch money for a month at school, I spent this money, she won't give me any more money for lunch, I haven't eaten lunch for a few days, but my mother won't even let me eat an extra bowl of dinner, brother I'm sorry, I like this wood carving very much, but ......"
The more the pigeon-faced girl cried, the more sad she became, and the tears fell like raindrops.
"Is there still such a mother in the world?"
Zhou Ming couldn't believe that this was just a toy equivalent to about 300 yuan, with the productivity and wage level of this world, he wouldn't even be able to afford such a small toy, right?
But seeing the girl crying so sadly, her stomach still rumbling from time to time, it is the age of the long body, she doesn't eat lunch or dinner, everything is because of a wood carving.
After thinking about it, Zhou Ming said to her: "Since there is no problem with the wood carving, I will not accept the return, but I will refund half of the credit to you, and the wood carving will be sold to you at cost price, is this okay?"
The girl's original desperate mood turned into surprise in an instant, and she nodded again and again: "Yes, yes!" 150 credits, saving points is almost enough.
What's more, her favorite wood carving is still in her hands, which makes her very surprised.
"Thank you, brother, thank you, brother!" After receiving the credit transferred to her by Zhou Ming, the pigeon-faced girl bowed gratefully a few times, and turned back many times to greet her when she left.
Two days passed, when the pigeon-faced girl followed her classmate, as well as her classmate's mother, and the three of them came over again, saying that the wood carving in her classmate's hand would also return half of the money, Zhou Ming was hurt by the world, and asked the classmate's mother loudly: "How can you be so poor that you have to bargain like this for even a 300-point wood carving?
The words of the classmate's mother almost defeated Zhou Ming: "It's just a piece of wood, you can't eat, you can't use it, you can't waste money, it's not worth a single credit point, what is it worth to deceive people's eyes? Give me back the money quickly!"
"Brother, I'm sorry, Xiao Min is my good friend, I told Xiao Min about it, and then her mother ......" The pigeon-faced girl cried again, she was innocent, and she couldn't understand the values of adults.
"You guys play slowly, Lao Tzu won't wait!"
Put the tools and wood carvings back into the backpack and carry them on his back, Zhou Ming left this place without looking back, Xiaomin's mother held his hand and didn't let him go, and Zhou Ming threw his hand out of the way, so he could only jump and curse at him, and didn't dare to entangle him closely.
After changing the street and disposing of all the wood carvings at a loss at a price of 50 credits, Zhou Ming, who found that the wood carvings were not easy to sell at all, chose the second way: street art.
So I spent nearly 1,000 credits, found someone to make a guitar with good timbre, and then wrote my electronic consumption card account number on a card (you can transfer money), Zhou Ming, who was sitting on a stone bench in a fountain square, rubbed and adjusted the strings twice, and then sang:
Write to me and tell me what the color of the sea is
What is the mood of accompanying you to the sea every night
……
Listen to the sound of the sea crying
Sighing, who has been hurt but not sober
It must not be me, at least I'm calm
But the tears don't even believe the tears
Listen to the sound of the sea crying
……
This "Listening to the Sea" Zhou Ming sang very devotedly, completely immersed in the atmosphere of that sad love song, the effect is also very significant, perhaps I have never heard this kind of infectious music, the surrounding audience gradually increased, after a song was sung, the applause sounded, and there were several emotional listeners, and even tears fell from the corners of their eyes.
As for the tip amount...... 0。
Isn't it touching enough, not sensational enough?
A song "Sea and Sky", and I will give it to you again.
There are more listeners around, and the applause is more enthusiastic, but what about credit tips? 0, or 0.
Zhou Ming didn't believe it, and sang more than a dozen songs he thought were very classic, such as "I Only Care About You", "Ruthless Rain, Ruthless You", "At Least There's You", and sang for more than an hour.
What about the number of people who transfer money with electronic cards?
0, always 0.
Zhou Ming, who was discouraged, stopped singing, his heart ached for the decline of music in this world, and those listeners who listened for more than an hour for free, I don't know if their conscience is hurting?
Until a man dressed as a policeman walked up to him, took out an electronic consumption card from his pocket, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Young man, you sing very well, come, transfer the account, a total of 300 credits." ”
Zhou Ming was overjoyed, took his hand and said, "Thank you, thank you, Mr. Policeman, you are the first listener to reward me, and you are a person who really loves music!"
The police man shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, you misunderstood what I meant, because you made more than 70 decibels of noise in public, violated the City Appearance Law, and were fined 300 credits, and I have just completed the collection of evidence, so please cooperate." ”
Zhou Ming: ......
……
A month later, Zhou Ming, a sculptor, guitar master, magician and other professions, all tried for a few days, and finally despaired of this city that refused to consume for art, with an investment of more than 6,000 credits, only in exchange for less than 2,000 points in return, eating, drinking, sleeping, and spending more than 2,000 credits, and now the remaining credits on his body are less than 2,000.
In order to save money, he had to leave the city, buy a maglev train ticket, and go to Baowan Town, 150 kilometers away, which is an important agricultural town in Yaoxing City, with a large number of private farms and agricultural companies, and Zhou Ming wants to try his luck here and solve his livelihood problems.