Wandering America: My kill threshold is far ahead

Spend $5 to participate in the quiz challenge, and you can get a free purchase if you succeed.

If a customer fails the challenge, they receive a 5 yuan voucher, which is used to induce customers to overspend.

In the business world, this idea isn't particularly brilliant.

But in this country with a highly developed entertainment industry, there are many people whose minds have been corrupted by consumerism.

Especially those desperate housewives who experience premature menopause are usually paired with a husband who owns a car wash or works as a financial advisor.

Having spare money and time, but being old and past one's prime, feeling empty inside, and yearning for social interaction and extramarital affairs.

If you just have the nerve to approach someone and strike up a conversation, the chances of being rejected are not zero, but they are extremely slim.

This combination of tactics had an immediate effect, turning the previously deserted Laopi Outdoor into a hot commodity.

The fellow shop owners stood helplessly in front of their respective shops, staring at each other blankly, none of them able to figure out what was going on.

After Ma Jieke exhausted all his knowledge, this crazy zero-yuan purchase challenge finally began to subside.

For more than three hours, he was surrounded and argued by a group of women of different skin colors, and he wished he could split his brain in two to use it.

And this is in the summer, and Europeans and Americans have exceptionally developed sweat glands. If you happen to encounter someone with body odor, you can imagine what will happen.

What's even more hateful is that some salted pig trotters took the opportunity to grope him, which is truly a rebellion against the Heavenly Gang.

"Phew..." After seeing off the last female customer, Ma Jie collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. He took the bottle of Fiberhome mineral water handed to him by Jimmy, gulped down more than half of it, and poured the rest directly over his head.

At the cashier, the shop owner transformed into a human money counting machine, counting stacks of money with a clanging sound, his saliva practically dripping down his face.

The last time we saw this kind of sales was on the opening day of our new store. We were practically losing money to gain publicity. We did a lot of work, but ended up losing 2,500 yuan when it came time to settle the bill.

"Whoosh!" After the inventory was finished, the fat boss shouted excitedly, his fat face jiggling wildly: "Asian kid, you should go find Joe Girard and ask him to take you on as his last apprentice. I have reason to believe that you are the next greatest salesman."

"Come on." Ma Jie stood up and leaned against the counter, his gaze falling on the cash register filled with cash. "All I want to know now is how much money I'm getting."

"OK, let me calculate it for you." The fat boss took out a calculator and pressed a few keys: "You have a total of 128 transactions, with a total sales amount of 7,986,075 cents. After deducting marketing costs, the actual sales amount is 6,946 cents. I'll give you a 10% commission of 695 cents."

"Take away the young master?!" Jimmy's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he heard the offer.

I made a net profit of nearly $700 in just one afternoon, which is even higher than the profit from zero-dollar purchases.

I work hard going from street to street collecting cans, and if I can earn $20 a day, I'm already lucky.

"Calm down, kid. Don't wear your poverty on your sleeve."

Ma Jieke smiled calmly and accepted the payment from the fat boss.

The latter quickly extended an olive branch: "Let's exchange contact information, buddy. We can continue to work together next weekend or during the carnival."

"No problem, it's a pleasure to work with you."

After shaking hands, Jimmy and the boss added each other as social media friends, thus establishing a business connection.

However, from a practical point of view, Ma Jieke does not like this job. It is tiring, mentally taxing, and also involves selling one's body.

There's no better way to make money right now, so I can only make do for now. At least you have to survive before you can talk about dreams, right?

Walking along the wooden paths of Santa Monica, Jimmy looked like he was on a high.

"Hey Jack, you're amazing! How did you even come up with such a brilliant idea?"

"It's not important." Ma Jie gazed at the sun silhouetted against the coastline in the distance. "There's a saying in the Bible, 'There is nothing new under the sun.' All human wisdom can be traced back to the past. But before you grow a brain, let's divide the money first, what do you say?"

"Of course." Hearing about splitting the money, Jimmy hesitated for a moment, as if making a huge decision. "You helped me find this job, and you also devised the marketing plan, so I suggest we be paid according to our work. Giving me $95 shouldn't be too much, right?"

"Are you sure?" Ma Jie was a little surprised. No homeless person is without money, as long as you are still living in a tent.

"I'm sure."

"Don't be naive, buddy. If word gets out, people in the camp will say I'm bullying the weak."

"However, what you said about paying according to work does make some sense." Thinking of this, Ma Jie counted out $295 and looked at him with an unquestionable gaze: "You take this, and I'll keep the remaining $400. This way, you'll feel at ease without me feeling like I've been taken advantage of. I admit I'm short of money right now, but there shouldn't be so much calculation between friends. Besides, you've taught me a lot of street survival skills, like how to ride the subway for free."

"But..."

"No buts, take it."

Ma Jie didn't feel like he was losing anything by forcibly stuffing the money into his hand. This kid might not have much talent for other things, but he was definitely a good mentor for novice homeless people, after all, he had a lot of practice time to spare.

But to his utter surprise, Jimmy, after receiving the money, turned his back and secretly started crying.

"What?" This startled someone: "What are you doing, kid? If others see this, they'll think I did something to you."

Jimmy sniffed and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand: "Jack, you are the most touching person I have met in all my years of wandering. You may not know how cruel it is to survive here, since you have just fallen on hard times on the streets. Homeless people often have conflicts and fights in order to survive. I have even seen people break each other's heads over a can."

"Stop talking, buddy. I know you've suffered far more than I can imagine."

Ma Jie patted him on the shoulder, his tone comforting: "So what? You gritted your teeth and got through it, isn't it because you firmly believe that the future will get better and better? So stop crying like a girl, otherwise I really have reason to suspect that what you're hiding in your crotch is a completely different kind of thing."

"Get lost!" Hearing this teasing remark, he punched Ma Jieke hard on the shoulder, backing up as he straightened his lower body: "Want to pull it out and have a match with me? In this area, I possess a powerful racial talent."

"Excuse me, I'm afraid of needles, thank you."

This witty remark actually made him pause for a moment before he rushed over in a fit of rage, ready to fight someone.

The two engaged in a chase, running from the tree-lined path all the way to the beach.

As the setting sun painted the beach a golden hue, with the multi-million dollar seaside villa behind him as a backdrop, Ma Jie couldn't resist indulging in a moment of sentimentality, shouting in Chinese towards the sea.

"Strive and work hard."