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This old street in Xuhui District, Shanghai, is hidden between high-rise buildings, with a dilapidated road surface paved with some worn bluestone slabs.

Most of the shops on both sides have faded signs, and even the smell of the wind carries a hint of the old days.

Suning stood on the street corner, his gaze fixed on the small shop not far away.

The five large red characters "Prince Indian God Oil" were printed on a white signboard, the paint was chipped off, and the glass door was covered with a thin layer of dust.

You can still vaguely see the boxed goods piled up inside, giving off an indescribable sense of desolation.

He didn't rush to push the door open and go in.

The system only provided the name "Cheng Yong" and the instruction to "take over the shop," but did not explain how to do it specifically.

If Cheng Yong is unwilling to transfer the shares, or if he demands an exorbitant price, it remains to be seen whether the 200,000 yuan of start-up capital he has will be enough to withstand the pressure.

Suning turned around and looked at the snack shop next to the store.

Freshly made pan-fried buns were displayed in the glass window, their golden-brown skin steaming hot, and their aroma wafting far and wide.

He opened the car door and went inside. There were only two tables of customers in the shop, and the proprietress was busy at the stove wearing an apron.

Hearing the noise, he looked up and smiled: "Young man, what would you like to order?"

"One pan-fried bun and a bowl of tofu pudding, please." Su Ning found a seat near the door and sat down, her gaze inadvertently sweeping out the window.

I could see the entrance of the aphrodisiac shop right there, but I didn't see anyone going in or out.

The proprietress deftly plated the pan-fried buns and placed them on his table. Su Ning casually remarked, "Auntie, your pan-fried buns smell delicious. You must have been here for many years, right?"

"That's right, it's been almost ten years," the proprietress said with a kind smile.

"Can I ask you something?" Su Ning asked the proprietress with a smile on his face.

“Go on!” The aunt wiped her hands and sat down on the stool opposite him. After all, there was no such thing as telecom fraud in this day and age. “I know this street like the back of my hand. I know everyone’s situation inside and out.”

"Then you must know the owner of the shop next door, right?" Su Ning picked up a pan-fried dumpling with her chopsticks, took a small bite, and gestured with her chin towards the aphrodisiac shop. "I've passed by several times, and I don't think I've seen many people go in."

Upon hearing this, the proprietress immediately lowered her voice, as if afraid of being overheard: "Oh, you mean Cheng Yong? He's not a bad person, just unlucky."

She glanced at the stove, and seeing that no one was paying attention, she continued, "His elderly father is paralyzed in a nursing home, waiting for money to have surgery. I heard that the deposit alone is tens of thousands of yuan, and he has been trying to raise the money for more than half a year but still hasn't been able to."

"And his wife, she ran off with someone who does foreign trade a while ago. Not only did she divorce him, but she's also coming back to fight for custody of their son." The shop owner sighed, her voice full of regret. "Look at his shop, he barely gets two customers a day. The goods are just sitting there collecting dust, and he still owes the landlord last month's rent. I saw him squatting on the street corner smoking a few days ago, looking so worried that several strands of his hair have turned white. It's a tragedy."

Su Ning paused, her chopsticks still in her hand, as she gradually came to a conclusion.

The fragmented information pieced together a clear outline in his mind: a man driven to desperation by life, urgently needing a large sum of money to pay for his father's surgery, and also facing the dilemma of divorce and custody battle, while this half-dead aphrodisiac shop was already an unnecessary burden to him.

The system assigned him to take over the shop; it turns out the assignment wasn't arbitrary.

Cheng Yong is currently short of cash, so as long as he is willing to pay a sufficient transfer fee, the deal is very likely to go through.

"So, he might also want to transfer the store out?" Su Ning asked again, feigning curiosity.

"Of course he wants to!" the proprietress nodded. "He asked me the other day if anyone would be willing to take over his shop, even if he earned less, just enough to cover his father's surgery fees. It's just that the business is so bad that no one wants to take over this mess."

Suning felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

He finished the remaining pan-fried dumplings in a few bites, paid the bill, thanked the proprietress, and turned to leave the snack shop.

He looked at the tattered sign of the aphrodisiac shop again, and this time he no longer hesitated as much as before.

With 200,000 yuan in start-up capital and Cheng Yong's urgent need for money, this "takeover" shouldn't be too difficult.

……

With the mindset of "better safe than sorry," after leaving the snack shop, Suning, just to be on the safe side, walked around the street again, asking at three different shops...

The shoe repair shop owner, the grocery store owner, and the fruit stand owner all received similar information.

Cheng Yong wasn't a bad person; he was just unlucky. His shop was doing so badly that it was on the verge of closing down, and he was heavily in debt. He was the unluckiest guy on the street.

Only after confirming that Cheng Yong was truly desperate did Su Ning turn around and return to the entrance of "Prince Indian God Oil".

When I raised my hand to push the door, the old doorbell on the door made a muffled "ding-a-ling" sound, like rusty parts rubbing together.

The shop was dimly lit, with only a single dim yellow light bulb on the ceiling. Dust filled the air, mixed with a strange, indescribable spice smell, somewhat like cheap incense, which was rather unpleasant to smell.

Behind the counter, a man in a gray jacket looked up. His face was covered in stubble, and he had heavy dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were full of fatigue.

Upon seeing Su Ning's youthful face, a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, followed by a sharp glint of calculation.

Young men who look young and inexperienced are the most concerned with saving face and are also the easiest to be fooled.

"Young man, want to take a look?" Cheng Yong stood up from behind the counter, rubbed his hands together, and pointed expertly towards the shelves. "These are all genuine Indian products, guaranteed effective. If you're too shy to say so, I can recommend a few..."

“Boss Cheng,” Su Ning interrupted him directly, her voice calm and without a trace of emotion, “I’m not here to buy anything. I want to take over your shop. Name your price.”

Cheng Yong's words caught in his throat. He paused for two seconds, then chuckled and waved his hand, "Little brother, are you still asleep? Go find somewhere else to have fun, I'm busy!"

He looked Su Ning up and down, and seeing that the other person was wearing an ordinary hoodie and looked like a student, he assumed that some kid was just bored and wanted to tease him.

Su Ning didn't waste any words with him, and reached out to unzip the backpack slung across her shoulder...

Inside, several bundles of hundred-yuan bills were neatly stacked. The red bills were particularly eye-catching in the dim light, and the paper strips binding the money had not yet been removed.

Cash in 2004 is more impactful than any sweet talk.

Cheng Yong's eyes widened instantly, his previously slumped shoulders tensed abruptly, his throat bobbed involuntarily, and even his breathing became heavy.

The money seemed to burn with scalding heat, instantly piercing through his feigned composure.

My father is waiting for the surgery payment notice at the nursing home, my ex-wife calls every day demanding child support, and the landlord has been pressing for rent payments several times...

The immense pressure that had been suffocating him was now transformed into a single, greedy thought, swirling wildly in his mind.

"Two...two hundred thousand!" he blurted out, his voice trembling slightly.

This figure far exceeds the value of the shop itself. Including the goods and rent, it's worth at most 50,000 yuan, but he was too anxious, eager to grab this lifeline that suddenly fell into his lap.

Upon hearing this, Su Ning's face immediately revealed undisguised sarcasm. He had just asked the grocery store owner, and the store, including the goods and the transfer rights, was worth at most half of that amount.

Without saying a word, he zipped up his backpack with a "whoosh," turned around, and walked out of the store. His movements were so decisive that he didn't hesitate for a second, and he didn't even look back.

"Hey! Wait! Brother!" Cheng Yong's urgency instantly overwhelmed his greed. He hurriedly came out from behind the counter, almost tripping over the cardboard box at his feet. "The price is negotiable! Let's talk it out! Name your price! Name your price!"

The cash disappeared even faster than it appeared, and as soon as the red color vanished, a wave of panic washed over him.

This is his only chance right now, and he absolutely cannot let it slip away.

Suning stopped at the door, his hand still on the doorknob, without turning around, and simply tossed out a number: "Fifty thousand."

"Fifty thousand?!" Cheng Yong, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly raised his voice and excitedly rushed forward to block his way. "That's impossible! I still have stock in my shop! And this location, although a bit out of the way, is still in the XH district! Fifty thousand isn't even enough for the rent!"

Su Ning didn't argue with him, but simply lifted her foot, as if to step out.

He had calculated that Cheng Yong was neither willing to gamble nor able to afford to gamble.

"Deal!" Cheng Yong's voice suddenly boomed.

He practically screamed it through gritted teeth, and the excitement on his face slowly faded, leaving only helplessness and compromise crushed by reality.

He knew that 50,000 yuan was far from enough to solve all the problems, but at least he could pay the deposit for his father's surgery and deal with his ex-wife's torment. It was better than running this shop that lost money every day and not even being able to raise the money to save his father's life.

Su Ning then turned around, his face expressionless: "Let's get the transfer formalities done now. I need a proper contract. Get it done within half an hour, and I can give you the money right now."

"it is good."

In any case, at least we can get through this difficult time.

……

As soon as Cheng Yong shouted "Okay," Suning pulled out a neatly folded shop transfer contract from his backpack.

The paper was brand new, and the terms were clearly laid out, with details such as the scope of the transfer, rent payment, and inventory of goods written out in a standard format as if drafted by a professional lawyer.

Cheng Yong glanced at the contract, a question forming in his mind...

How come this young man even prepared the contract in advance?

With the cash right in front of him, he had no time to delve into the details. He only glanced at the key terms to confirm that the clauses "transfer amount of 50,000 yuan" and "ownership of the shop belongs to Party B from this date" were correct. Then he picked up a pen, quickly signed his name at the signature line, and pressed his red fingerprint on it.

His hand trembled slightly as he pressed his fingertips, stained with red ink, onto the paper.

Once he signed his name, the shop that he both hated and felt helpless about would no longer be his.

Suning took the contract, carefully examined the signatures and fingerprints, and after confirming that there were no problems, handed one copy to Cheng Yong.

He folded the other bundle and put it in his backpack, then took out five bundles of cash from the bag and placed them on the counter: "Count them, the amount is correct."

Cheng Yong's eyes were immediately drawn to the cash. He hurriedly grabbed the money, counting it rapidly with his fingers. He counted it again and again until he confirmed that it was exactly fifty thousand. Only then did he breathe a long sigh of relief, and his tense shoulders finally relaxed.

Perhaps because he had money in his hands, his anxiety lessened, and he even felt a little more "conscience".

While stuffing the money into his pocket, he looked up at Su Ning and said, "Brother, since you're honest, I'll tell you the truth. The cost of sourcing the goods in this store domestically is too high, so you won't make much money selling them. If you really want to make money from this store, you have to go to India to buy the goods directly. The price there is more than half cheaper. If you want to do this, hurry up and get your passport and visa. The sooner you go, the sooner you can make money..."

“The passport and visa have been processed.” Su Ning interrupted him calmly.

This is what he just confirmed in the system panel...

The system not only provided him with start-up capital, but also helped him complete all the necessary procedures for going abroad, including obtaining a valid passport and visa.

Cheng Yong paused for a moment, opened his mouth, and finally muttered, "They're quite well prepared," before saying nothing more.

He glanced at the small shop where he had been working for almost two years. The counter, the shelves, and even the cardboard boxes piled up in the corner were all traces of his failures.

He didn't linger any longer. Clutching the money, he practically fled the store, forgetting to even close the door.

He didn't want to stay in this place for even a second longer.

The shop door swayed gently in the wind, making a creaking sound.

Su Ning walked over, reached out and locked the door, then turned around and looked around the small space.

The light bulb on the ceiling was still dim and yellow, the goods on the shelves were covered in dust, and the smell of cigarettes from Cheng Yong still lingered in the air, mixed with that strange fragrance, revealing the anxiety and disappointment of the former owner.

【ding dong】

The electronic voice in my mind rang out on time:
Main Quest (One) Completed: Successfully Take Over the "Prince Indian God Oil" Shop

[Task Rewards Issued: System Repair Progress +5% (Current Progress 5.8%), Unlocked Missing Memory Fragments of the Host (To be checked), Additional Task Funds of 100,000 Yuan Have Been Received]

[Main Quest (Part Two) Begins: Wait for the key NPC to appear to trigger the quest. Travel to Mumbai, India, contact local pharmaceutical merchants, and obtain access to the "Gleevec" drug. Quest Time Limit: One Month]

[Task Rewards: System repair progress +2%; 1 million in task funds; Interpersonal skills +10 (out of 100, current score is 20)]

[Task Reminder: Gleevec is a key drug for treating leukemia. Its current price in China is high; please be cautious when acquiring it.]

Looking at the new task on the system panel, Su Ning gradually got a feel for it—"Dying to Survive," Gleevec, leukemia…

By connecting these keywords, he could roughly guess what he was about to face.

He walked behind the counter and sat down, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.

The old street outside the window was quiet, with the occasional sound of bicycle bells and vendors' shouts.

In Shanghai in 2004, in this absurd adult products store, his first "side quest" had just begun.

What he didn't know was that behind this mission lay the lives and deaths of countless patients, and the complexities of human nature far beyond his imagination.

However, Suning knew that this was a virtual movie and game world, and since it was a mission, it must be dangerous.

So things might not go smoothly from here on out...

...(End of chapter)