Chen Ming nodded and turned to leave the hardware store.
Shortly after Chen Ming left, the owner slapped away Lao Wu’s hand from his shoulder and said, "Now I get why you’re so generous. How much did you make?"
"Hey, pull out the scale and see."
The owner quickly grabbed an electronic scale from behind the counter and saw the weight of the gold Lao Wu had placed on it, saying, "About 24 grams. With this level of purity, we can sell it directly for around 230 per gram, and in other places, it can fetch even more."
"Around five to six thousand."
Lao Wu’s forehead was full of wrinkles pushed out by his smile as he carefully put away the gold, saying, "No idea who that kid is, being so generous."
The owner glanced at the computer before looking out at the street, saying, "The terminal he used just now is an old model used internally by Sinda Corporation. He thought scraping off the company’s logo would be enough, but anyone familiar can tell it’s company equipment at a glance. There’s no hiding it."
The young Maintenance Master, who had been sitting quietly beside him, suddenly asked, "Did he kill someone from the company, or is he part of the company?"
Lao Wu replied irritably, "What’s that got to do with me or you? Maybe he picked it up somewhere? As long a it makes money, it doesn’t matter if he took out the company CEO."
Lao Wu once again weighed the small bundle of gold in his pocket.
This amount should be enough to cover his expenses for a while after selling it.
But the young Maintenance Master still had other thoughts, murmuring, "Do you think he might have more..."
With a smack, Lao Wu slapped his forehead.
"Forgot the rules? Conflicts are banned from Dock 1’s space arm to 20 to avoid scaring people away. Making trouble here is like slapping the big shots upstairs and ruining their livelihoods. Don’t want to make a living?"
"Just saying, that’s fine."
Lao Wu’s face returned to its original expression as if switching masks, and instinctively placed his hand on the young Maintenance Master’s shoulder, saying, "Let’s go drinking."
"Work my ass. Don’t you think how many brainless people come without maintenance and look for us to fix spaceships daily? Aren’t they afraid we’ll leave some surprises on their ships?"
"Considering how dire repair business is at the workshop, how many people can actually fix ships in total? Maybe ten?"
"Money’s made from selling gear. Repairing is just the sideshow; earning so little, should we waste time?"
"They’ll still come for us if there’s work. Less work, what’s the point of being there just staring?"
"Enough. Are you coming or not?"
The hardware store quieted down.
Chen Ming, who had silently listened by the door, only now turned to leave.
But before he left, he nodded at the well-hidden camera high on the wall outside the hardware store.
From the beginning when he exited the store, Chen Ming had paused, intending to eavesdrop on how Lao Wu spoke further with the owner.
At the first moment, he didn’t notice the camera.
Though Chen Ming later discovered it quickly and changed his hiding spot, the owner certainly noticed his actions. The source of thɪs content is NovᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt
But the owner seemed unfazed and openly mentioned Chen Ming’s terminal as Sinda Corporation’s internally used one.
This was a reminder to Chen Ming and a friendly signal to him.
Chen Ming wasn’t ready to believe friendliness without cause, but since the gesture was there, a nod was a simple return.
After Lao Wu and his assistant vanished at the doors of space arm 2.
Chen Ming emerged from behind the hardware store and soon left space arm 2 as well.
On the way to space arm 13.
Chen Ming was still mulling over Lao Wu’s final words.
What Lao Wu said mirrored his own thoughts; the repair workshop didn’t have many Maintenance Masters.
With people often slacking off and missing work, joining them shouldn’t be too tough.
Given it shouldn’t be too difficult, Chen Ming internally set a goal to join the repair workshop.
He had another idea when pondering ways to make money earlier.
By using his skills, he could buy neglected weapons, refurbish them quickly, and sell them for profit.
That idea, however, he initially dismissed or postponed.
This approach involved two problems: acquiring discarded weapons and selling refurbished ones.
The primary source for discarded weapons would be ship owners docked inside the docks.
But how could he persuade them to sell their defunct weapons? Approach each ship in the dock?
This efficiency and possibility were practically nonsense.
Thus, the first step in his plan, the source of weapons, could only stem from the repair workshop, buying in bulk from them.
Back then, Chen Ming didn’t consider the price for purchase or why the workshop would sell its bought weapons directly again.
Even if figuring out weapon sources, the next step, selling refurbished weapons, was still troubling Chen Ming.
The weapon supply of the workshop surely came from specialized suppliers; why would they repurchase his refurbished weapons?
Should he ask every docked ship again? Surely people would consider him a fool.
Who’d opt to purchase renovated weapons from him rather than straight from the workshop?