50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 323: Failure. He can only return home to inherit the family business.
In February, the weather in Washington was still cold. After completing his fourth mission, Sun Zhiwei finally had some free time.

He and Belinda were still the only two people in the store. Sophia would occasionally come in to browse once or twice. The night shift attendant had not been found.

However, his shop has never been robbed, which is because he put prices on the items.

These days, customers have been asking about the products displayed in the store from time to time. Each time, Belinda enthusiastically introduces them, but the customers have all questioned the prices of the products.

Belinda had always assumed the room was full of counterfeit goods, and feeling guilty, she stammered when faced with questions from customers.

This led customers to perceive these items as handicrafts, but some people really liked them, which is why some customers bargained.

Sun Zhiwei, however, was very indifferent; he didn't care whether people bought it or not, and he resolutely refused to lower the price.

After a while, and over the course of a month, all the customers who had consulted about these displayed items felt that they were all fake, or at least most of them were.

After all, if they are all genuine, the goods displayed in such a small shop must be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Isn't that a joke? Absolutely not.

As a result, rumors that James had identified all the antiques displayed in the shop as fakes quickly spread throughout the surrounding community.

Some local community groups were originally planning to take action against the antique shop, but after hearing the rumors, they all backed down.

Even the street thugs know that this store sells counterfeit goods. If they robbed the counterfeit goods, who would they sell them to? They wouldn't even be able to sell them.

Thugs aren't stupid; nobody does something thankless and difficult.

As a result, Sun Zhiwei's shop inexplicably became the safest shop in the neighborhood.

Just when Sun Zhiwei thought that the month was about to pass by like this.

On the afternoon of February 25th, the faint sound of horses' hooves could be heard from the doorway. A moment later, a spirited young man pushed open the shop door.

At that moment, Sun Zhiwei was dozing off in a wicker chair, his face covered by a book. Hearing the wind chimes, he showed no intention of getting up to greet them.

He's already hired Belinda, so he doesn't have to deal with clients himself. If you don't give her work to do, she won't feel at ease.

After all, she only has 3 hours a day, and sometimes there are no customers at all, so she can only clean.

She felt a bit overwhelmed by the $100 she was making that week, so she kept taking on more work. Sun Zhiwei's attempts to dissuade her were useless, so he could only let her be.

He felt that Belinda was a typical case of paranoia, but he wouldn't stop his employees from working hard.

"Welcome! How can I help you?" Belinda greeted them reflexively upon hearing the wind chimes.

The young man who entered was dressed in Western cowboy attire, and his cowboy hat covered most of his face.

Belinda was a very wary person; she immediately tensed up when she saw this guy enter the store without showing his face.

While greeting the guests, she quickly kicked the boss's recliner with her foot.

Sun Zhiwei was not asleep. When the guest came in, he had already used his spatial ability to see the person's appearance clearly.

But Belinda kept kicking the recliner, and he could no longer lie down.

Sun Zhiwei reluctantly got up from the recliner and lazily greeted the visitor:

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant Milan. What brings you here today?"

"And you look really cool in that denim outfit, where did you buy it?"

As Sun Zhiwei greeted the lieutenant, he went to the nearby coffee table and poured him a cup of tea. "Good afternoon, Mr. James, Miss Belinda," the young cowboy said, removing his cowboy hat from his face and bowing to them.

"Do you also think this outfit is very stylish? Haha, I think so too."

“This was given to me by my grandfather, including the fine horse outside the door.”

Sun Zhiwei gazed at the distant view outside the gate, where a tall, white horse was tethered to a roadside tree. He exclaimed in sincere admiration:
"What a beautiful little princess! She looks to be less than 3 years old, yet she's already so tall. She must have excellent bloodlines."

“Your insight is unmatched. My grandfather said its father was a wild horse king.”

"Lieutenant, it's so good to see you've recovered your spirits." Sun Zhiwei raised his glass to the lieutenant, offering him a cup of tea.

The lieutenant didn't stand on ceremony, picked up another cup of tea from the coffee table, and gulped down a large mouthful.

"I have to thank you for that. After listening to you that day, I bought a ticket and flew to New York. My grandfather's farm is over there."

“I stayed at my grandfather’s house for three days and had a good talk with him.”

"Looks like your talks went well." It must have gone well; Lieutenant Milan was beaming with pride, practically wearing his smugness on his sleeve.

"Yes, sir, Grandpa has decided to leave his ranch to my wife and me to run."

"After I came back, I completed my retirement procedures and I am now a former lieutenant."

"Wow, congratulations young man, you've made the right choice. Now that you're gone, the world is vast."

“Mr. James, thanks to your guidance. Otherwise, I would still be stuck in the quagmire.”

"This was your own choice, and I only said a few words."

"No wonder you rode here on horseback; it seems you're adapting well to the ranch."

"It's really great. The ranch my grandfather gave me is 10 acres big." The lieutenant spread his arms wide, showing off proudly.

He knew this young man had no good intentions; he was trying to provoke him.

Unfortunately, people claimed that all the genuine antiques in his room were fakes, and he couldn't refute them. So, he could only let the former Lieutenant Milan show off.

"Your grandfather loved you. But he gave you the ranch, so what about himself?"

“Mr. James, you’ve got it wrong. I said ranch, not farm. The ranch is in Pennsylvania.”

“My grandfather also has a small farm outside of New York, where he now spends most of his time. He left it to me to manage because he didn’t have time to take care of the ranch.”

The lieutenant didn't seem to be boasting when he said this, probably because he looked down on that small farm.

"A small farm? How small? How far is it from New York?" Sun Zhiwei was not as ignorant as the lieutenant.

He fully understood the value of farms located near New York. In the prime suburbs of New York, where land is incredibly valuable, you can grow almost anything and it will sell.

However, he still needs to confirm the size of the farm before he can determine its value.

"How big? Much smaller than a ranch in Pennsylvania, only 10,000 acres. It takes more than an hour to drive into town," the lieutenant replied with a hint of disdain.

Sun Zhiwei almost spat in his face when he heard this. A 10,000-acre farm an hour's drive from New York, you call that small?

(End of this chapter)