Otaku Translation: Blackstone Code Chapter 116

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For example, there would be a house, the one Lynch was currently living in. His arranged person would supposedly secure this house. Of course, all of this was fake. The eventual inability of the buyer to pay would result in the item going unsold, leaving the consigner dissatisfied and unwilling to continue with the auction.

Enough gimmicks had been set up. A luxurious villa starting at a buck would be sufficient to once again make this auction the focus of society. People wouldn't actually care about the final selling price; rather, they would start calculating, thinking if there was a chance to get a bargain.

This was what Lynch needed people to ponder over, not other things.

After Richard nodded, Lynch naturally found a chair and sat down, gesturing for others to do the same. They were in a gymnasium, with tiered seating everywhere.

They sat in their seats, holding notebooks and pens, looking at Lynch with eyes filled with eagerness for knowledge and wealth, much like students.

After a brief pause for thought, Lynch organized his thoughts and began teaching these "students" some useful tips and tricks.

He also casually mentioned that whoever had good handwriting should take more detailed notes, as these things might become teaching materials for future batches of "new students".

Ultimately, Wood was assigned this task because everyone agreed his handwriting was the best.

After giving these instructions, Lynch directly posed a question, "Under what circumstances would you get angry?"

This sudden question left the young people present momentarily stunned, but soon they had some thoughts of their own. Richard was the first to raise his hand, which was why Lynch valued him.

Not only could he complete the "assignments" Lynch gave, but he could also foster a positive atmosphere. Such individuals were needed everywhere. Even if he wasn't working with Lynch, he would still have opportunities to become successful in the future. Some things were destined.

Lynch nodded towards him, and he somewhat smugly said, "I would definitely get angry if someone humiliates me," then exchanged some glances with his companions behind him.

Lynch nodded and looked encouragingly at the others. He hoped more people would step forward to answer this question. Perhaps it might make some feel embarrassed, but that was precisely what they needed to overcome.

If they gave up on making money due to conscience, morality, values, or distinguishing right from wrong, then they had no place in this line of work.

Wood raised his hand with a contemplative look, "I'll get angry when someone crosses my bottom line."

Lynch's eyes lit up as he pointed at Wood, also casting a glance at Richard, but soon his gaze spread to the others, "Richard's answer isn't entirely correct. If I were to humiliate you, would you get angry?"

His tone was calm, with a hint of a smile on his face, and his eyes weren't particularly fierce. However, Richard suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable at his words, a sense of panic inexplicably creeping into his heart.

He squirmed uneasily, adjusting his posture several times in his seat, then shook his head, "No, Mr. Lynch."

Lynch nodded, looking at the others, "Why wouldn't Richard get angry even if I humiliated him?" This was a rather complex question. As a mentor in life, Lynch had to clarify things for these children.

So, without waiting for others to respond, he continued, "Because I haven't crossed his bottom line yet. Everyone has a method in their mind to accurately measure the gap in status between people. Even if I were to humiliate you, it would be within your tolerance range, making it difficult for you to get angry."

"This is an acceptable level of harm for you. It's only when I touch your bottom line, causing a sharp pain in your heart or even your soul, that you'll get angry, furious, and then lose your rationality."

"I've previously discussed how to create some minor conflicts, and now I'm talking about how to make customers lose their rationality. This is basic knowledge, but it's also a crucial lesson."

"You must slightly prick the hearts of your customers, making their rationality temporarily fail, while enhancing competitiveness, leading them to believe they've been humiliated by other bidders, thus creating miracles in bidding prices."

"We all know how dangerous impulsiveness can be. When you're impulsive, you'll do many things you never thought you would."

"If you can achieve this, then you'll become a top-notch salesman here."

The young men's breath grew slightly faster. They had already heard Richard and others discussing the party they attended after last week's auction. Various stunning women, whose beauty would make them feel inferior, were running around like pets in revealing dresses.

Every corner of the room was scattered with money, and delicacies rarely seen on normal days filled the tables as if they were free.

Alcohol, money, hormones—just a simple description was enough to get the young men's blood boiling, filling them with a hot, eager energy!

Seeing that everyone was basically in the zone, Lynch nodded satisfactorily, then posed the second question, "Our customer base actually exhibits a very obvious group characteristic, which is also one of their bottom lines. Has anyone noticed?"

After this question was asked, not even Richard remained as active. He had been contemplating, even discussing with other sales managers who had attended the second-hand goods auction, but ultimately, they hadn't found any common traits among these people.

Each of them had different life, work, and family environments, making it difficult to find any common ground among them. They could only turn their gaze towards Lynch, who simply smiled faintly.

“Poverty.” One word left these people speechless. But Lynch continued to educate these young people, "They can't be strictly defined as poor, but generally, those who have a demand for second-hand goods are often individuals with consumerist thoughts and impulses, but lack the means to buy brand new items. Among these people, there are some stingy wealthy individuals, but more are relatively financially constrained individuals."

"They don't lack the desire to consume like real poor people do, but they also don't have a comprehensive consumption plan and spending power like a financially healthy family. They are poor, yet they don't want to admit it."

"This is their bottom line, something they fiercely defend. They never see themselves as poor. As long as we make them feel that their bottom line is being challenged by other customers, even a small friction can make them turn against each other, and their rationality will disappear."

"Gentlemen, for me, as long as the goods are sold, I'll get my share. I'm telling you all this not to make more money for myself, but to give you the opportunity to experience the best pulse of this era."

"Perhaps you don't understand my words completely yet, but it's okay. Tomorrow, you will have the chance to try it out firsthand, to incite the anger of your clients and make them lose their reason."

"Oh, and tell your clients that they can return the items they bought from us for a refund at no more than seventy percent of the price. If the goods have obvious scratches and damage, continue bargaining, pushing the price down as low as possible..."

After impulsive spending at the second-hand goods auction, these individuals would quickly come to their senses. Once they did, their first thought would often be realizing that bringing home an unplanned purchase was not appropriate.

So, they would need to find a way to deal with these items. Returning them was likely the first idea for most people, but here, the auction house was only responsible for sales, not returns. Even if people called the police or sued the auction house, it would still be futile.

It was unheard of for an auction house to assume responsibility for returns; as for how to return the items, they would have to rely on the auction house to locate the original owners of the goods first.

Alternatively, if they wanted to get their money back quickly, they could opt to resell the items to Interstellar Trading Company at a discounted rate. In that way, they would not need to worry about debt anymore.

After discussing some small tricks, Lynch bid farewell to everyone. He only came here today to meet these young men, teaching was beyond his plans. He wouldn't stay here for too long.

After watching Lynch leave, some people gathered excitedly, while others pondered over what Lynch had said.

"I'm starting to believe what you said now..." A middle-aged man stood behind Wood, looking at Lynch's departing figure with a complex expression.

In the half-month that Wood had been undercover, he had never reported any criminal behavior by Lynch, which had aroused some suspicions within the Federal Bureau of Investigation's covert operations branch about Wood.

Unable to bear it any longer, Wood's handler personally intervened, bringing two young agents. If Wood had turned, they would quietly eliminate him.

However, just after his first face-to-face encounter with Lynch, Wood's superior had already concluded that Wood wasn't lying. He could see that Lynch was a cunning person, as well as a terrifying capitalist.

He avoided all means that could be associated with crime and illegality, using inexplicable methods to earn the easiest money.

A despicable businessman, yet intelligent enough to manipulate human nature, making people scramble to give him money.

Such a person didn't need to commit crimes to live well. Of course, this was just a preliminary assessment. Whether Lynch had committed any illegal acts still needed further observation.

If he had, since the day he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he had sworn to ensure that not a single criminal would escape.

If not, he would voluntarily explain the situation to the covert operations branch.

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