Chapter 5 Sometimes making money is easy

"Sir, do you want a newspaper?"

A half-sized boy with a dirty duckbill cap and a huge leather bag appeared in front of Rich.

The boy looked about eleven or twelve years old, looking at Lynch with some anticipation, and opened his bag, revealing the newspapers inside.

These children belong to various "newspaper gangs," which are not newspaper headlines, but refer to the managers of these newsboys.

They firmly control the mobile newspaper sales market in certain areas through certain relationships, means, or other ways. Only their own newsboys can sell newspapers here, and others are not allowed in, the newsstand is not included.

Every morning, the gather outside the newspaper office to load the still hot newspapers onto carts and pull them back to their "base," then distribute them to these half-sized children and drive them to the streets.

Each child has a sales standard, a minimum limit. If they fall below this limit, they will be beaten or hungry. Only after exceeding this standard can they enjoy food, but without any rewards.

Welfare homes and some poor families have taken away their wages, and all they have to do is work as much as possible in exchange for a place to shelter from wind and rain, as well as two meals to sustain their lives.

Some people may think this is hell, but compared to those who live in more desperate abysses, these children are like being in heaven.

Rich took out a one yuan bill from his pocket and selected two newspapers. The local newspapers were fifty cents each, while the national newspapers were one dollar each.

The newspaper boy thanked Rich repeatedly, even bowing his head in gratitude. For Rich, one yuan for two newspapers might just be a small part of his life that couldn't be avoided, but for this child, it was the redemption he wanted most every day.

The child was about to leave but was called back by Rich.

"Sir, is there anything else I can do for you?" the young boy asked.

Children like him often adapt to society better than those from well-off families who are still in school. Looking at the innocent yet mature face that was filled with smiles, Rich couldn't help but feel emotional.

This is the worst age, but also the best age.

He asked, "Do you want to earn money?"

The child immediately nodded and said, "I dream of it, sir, but I won't do anything illegal."

Where there is light, there is darkness. The brighter the light shines, the darker the darkness becomes in contrast. Similarly, the darkness becomes even darker as the light becomes brighter.

Some people exploit children to sell newspapers, while others exploit them for criminal activities. These are not secret rumors. In the process of this society's vigorous development, everyone has been dazzled by wealth.

As long as one can earn money, someone will do whatever work is available.

Rich shook his head and asked, "Do you have ninety-seven cents?"

Although the newspaper boy hesitated, he quickly took out ninety-seven cents from his pocket. He had some loose change in his pocket, which was arranged by the newspaper head to be placed in each person's backpack when they went out.

This money did not belong to them. The newspaper head would count it when they returned. If someone lost money or had less money, they would go hungry or even get beaten. This made the children very sensitive to money.

Looking at the ninety-seven cents the child took out – all coins, Rich took out another one dollar bill and placed it in the child's left hand, taking the ninety-seven cents from his other hand.

"Sir, you're still missing three cents. I'll find it for you now......" the newspaper boy thought Rich wanted change. Urban transportation usually only accepts ten cents or twenty-five cents tickets. One is for trips within five kilometers and the other is for trips outside of five kilometers.

Whether it's a bus or subway, they don't give change. If you give them fifty cents, they'll only give you two tickets instead of one ticket and change.

This is why many people carry some change with them to avoid losses.

Rich stopped the newspaper boy's actions and repeated his question, "Do you want to earn money?"

The newspaper boy hadn't yet reacted. Being able to take advantage so openly for the first time made him uneasy. He hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "I want to, sir. I dream of it!"

The smile gradually appearing on Rich's face made the child feel like he was seeing the rising sun, not blinding, but gentle light that could tear through the darkness and illuminate the entire sky!

"Do you have ninety-seven cents?" he asked again.

The newspaper boy was momentarily shocked and confused, but quickly took out the ninety-seven cents from his bag and held it in his palm.

His face turned red, and it was clear he was now excited, nervous, unsure, and a bit skeptical. He looked at Rich with his transparent eyes, wondering what this guy was up to.

Rich took out another one dollar and placed it in the newspaper boy's hand, taking the ninety-seven cents from his other hand. With a smile that seemed both genuine and fake, he asked again, "Do you want to earn money?"

At this point, the newspaper boy was so excited that he was trembling. He nodded repeatedly and found all the loose change that could add up to ninety-seven cents. "It's all here, sir..."

Rich counted twelve dollars in his hand and put all the change in his pocket. "Looks like this is all you have," he said.

The newsboy was excited, even though he had only exchanged fourteen dollars in change from Rich, he already had forty-two cents of his own income, almost half one dollar.

You see, no matter how well he did his job now, he wouldn't get a single cent. The newspaper would give all the rewards to the orphanage.

This newsboy was raised in an orphanage, and according to the orphanage, they should do something for the orphanage. After all, the orphanage had raised them and didn't ask for anything in return.

Generally speaking, once you exceed the age of ten and are not adopted, the chances of being adopted are very small, except for some girls who are adopted for other reasons and purposes.

However, the orphanage won't interfere much. When the children are over fourteen years old, they can refuse to be adopted, and once they are over sixteen, they have to leave here and enter society alone.

In other words, boys over the age of ten are basically on the "margins" of the orphanage. It is difficult to earn adoption subsidies and donations from these children, so they must go to work.

They have to use work to compensate for the orphanage's efforts to raise them over the years. Whether this is right or not doesn't matter, because no one will care about these things. Everyone's eyes will only focus on things related to their own interests.

How to quickly integrate into society and find a place to stay after being kicked out of the orphanage is the most troublesome thing for these children at the moment.

If they can get some money before leaving, not much, just enough to get through a short period of time, they will have a chance to survive.

Rich's exchange of change showed this child a bright path, just like he asked before -- do you want to make money?

And his own answer -- I dream about it!

After collecting the money, the newsboy hesitated and asked, "Sir, will you be here tomorrow?"

Rich nodded, "I will be here before lunch. If I'm not here, I will appear the next day!" He tapped his wrist with his finger, "You still have enough time..."

The children who have already started to contact society immediately understood Rich's meaning. After about ten minutes, a group of newsboys gathered here, and more people kept coming...

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