Successfully Securing the Abandoned Steel Mill

Leaving his alma mater, the next natural stop was to secure the ink, ideally finding the formula—specifically the purely natural kind.

The ink shop resembled a supply and marketing cooperative from the 1980s or 90s. It was quite spacious, staffed by elderly attendants, and filled with vintage furnishings.

On the counter sat an abacus, sleeve protectors, reading glasses, old-fashioned ledger books, newspaper racks, and a reclining chair where an elderly man was reading the paper.

Stepping inside, Chen Lin felt as though he had traveled back in time to the 1980s!

"Looking for something?" The old man in the reclining chair removed his reading glasses and looked at Chen Lin.

Chen Lin handed him a cigarette. "Old timer, do you have ink for old-fashioned printing presses?"

The old man was clearly taken aback. "Well, well! It's been quite a while since anyone asked for that. We do have some, but it's been sitting in stock for seven or eight years. Not sure if it's still any good."

Chen Lin asked again, "Do you have the formula? I'm willing to pay for the ink formula."

"The formula?"

"What on earth do you want that for? Old-fashioned printing presses have long been phased out, and the factories that produced the ink have gone out of business. Who still uses that obsolete stuff nowadays?"

Chen Lin once again played the charity card. After listening for a moment, the old man fell silent.

"You're a charitable young man. Hold on, let me ask around for you."

At that moment, Zhu Yuanzhang stepped forward, pointing to boxes upon boxes of A3 and A4 paper stacked on a nearby shelf.

"We think that paper looks quite suitable for printing imperial banknotes. Let's buy some to take back."

Chen Lin nodded. "Buying it is fine, but purchased paper will eventually run out. When that happens, we can't very well end up with banknotes of inconsistent paper texture, can we?"

"Then just buy more! Buy enough to fill a warehouse. When it runs out, at worst, we'll die with you again and come back for another batch."

Chen Lin chuckled amusedly. "I think you just want an excuse to keep coming back here to play."

Zhu Yuanzhang grinned slyly. "Why not both?"

"Well, that's not entirely out of the question. We can buy more."

At this point, Zhu Di voiced a doubt: "You don't seem to be short on money. Are you considered a rich person in this era?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was also puzzled. "Indeed. Aren't you still renting a place? Why do you spend money without even a hint of pain?"

"Never mind about that; it's all for the sake of Great Ming anyway. Besides, you two will have to pay to buy it from me later on."

"You..."

Zhu Yuanzhang felt a pang of frustration. Why had he opened his big mouth?

Now look at this—he had practically raised the difficulty level for himself. How aggravating~~

While waiting, Chen Lin noticed the shop also sold chalk, small blackboards, microscopes, and other teaching aids, alongside various stationery and sporting goods.

Should he... just buy the whole lot?

Perhaps he could open a school back in Great Ming and promote education?

Just then, the old man walked over holding a piece of fax paper.

"Here, take it. No charge."

Surprised, Chen Lin took the fax paper and looked it over.

What a treasure!

It truly was made of all-natural ingredients, with pine resin as the primary component—something Great Ming definitely possessed.

As for the pigments, Great Ming certainly had its own traditional methods.

More importantly, the production process could be executed entirely by hand.

This damn thing was a secret manual—a secret manual for printing imperial banknotes!!

He hastily folded it up and tucked it safely inside his robe.

"Old timer, I can't take this formula for nothing. How about this: I'll buy everything currently in your shop. Whatever you have left in the warehouse, I want that too. And if you can source more stock, I'll take all of that as well."

The old man was startled. "Are you joking? Between what's in the store and the warehouse, it's worth at least a million. Are you sure you can handle that?"

"It's all for charity, after all!"

"It's settled then. I'll transfer three million to you right now, and you can curate the goods for me to that value. Also, I don't need an invoice—just give me the wholesale price!"

With that, right in front of the old man, Chen Lin transferred three million.

Not until the payment terminal chimed with the announcement of three million received did the old man snap back to reality, excitedly stepping forward to grasp Chen Lin's hand.

"Thank you so much! Without you, our supply cooperative would have had to shut its doors for good next year. Thank you, thank you truly!"

"No problem at all, we're just helping each other out!"

The old man continued shaking Chen Lin's hand. "Rest assured, I'll definitely give you the lowest price."

Awkwardly pulling his hand away, Chen Lin took a step back because the old man had slight bad breath.

"It's a deal then. Have all the goods delivered to the abandoned steel mill in the northern part of the city. How long will that take?"

"Two days."

"Two days... can it be faster? I'm in a rush."

The old man fell silent for a moment. "Then one day."

"Still too long. Ideally, within six hours."

"Hiss~~ Six hours?!"

The old man pondered for a long time before finally declaring firmly, "Fine, six hours it is! I'll write you a receipt right now."

With a flurry of scribbling, Chen Lin found himself holding another receipt—this one stamped with the official seal of the supply cooperative. It looked thoroughly legitimate, far more official than the one Director Liu had written.

Leaving his phone number, Chen Lin departed amidst the old man's enthusiastic farewells.

"How much money did you just spend to make that old man so enthusiastic?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked out of curiosity.

"Not much, just three million!"

"What? Three million liang?"

"Not three million liang, three million RMB. I have no idea how much that translates to in Great Ming's purchasing power, but certainly not that much."

Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang retract his astonishment. "That's a relief. But you really are wealthy. Are you actually a tycoon in this world?"

"What do you think?" Chen Lin laughed heartily.

Shortly after, the three of them drove directly to the abandoned steel mill situated halfway up a mountain in the northern suburbs. Chen Lin had already contacted the person in charge—a minor official from a relevant department—who was waiting right at the entrance.

"What a desolate place!"

Gazing at the overgrown weeds and scene of utter abandonment, Zhu Yuanzhang asked doubtfully, "Why are we here?"

Chen Lin did not explain, instead eyeing the three towering blast furnaces inside the factory grounds, along with several large structures of unknown function.

The official eagerly stepped forward to shake hands.

"Are you Mr. Chen?"

Facing this man, Chen Lin was far less polite.

Acquiring the abandoned steel mill should have cost 3.8 million, but he directly slashed the price down to 1 million.

The other party had been deeply conflicted, but with all that scrap metal sitting idle, every extra day meant another day of losses.

Putting aside the losses from rusting metal, the ongoing theft of materials over such a long period resulted in tens of thousands lost every single year.

Coupled with current environmental policies prohibiting the construction of factories near urban areas, the land had become virtually worthless.

Consequently, no one wanted to buy this dilapidated factory located in the middle of nowhere, which could not even be redeveloped.

Now that someone was willing to make an offer, it was a godsend.

One million it was!

Being able to see actual cash was far better than nothing at all.

The two parties reached an agreement. Although the transfer procedures were somewhat cumbersome, that was not Chen Lin's concern; the transfer of funds would happen precisely when the paperwork was completed.

Chen Lin also insisted that the handover must be finalized today.

For the minor official, however, that was no big deal—they were all brother departments and easy to talk to.

Ultimately, the group spent two hours completing all the formalities, and the abandoned steel mill was officially transferred to Chen Lin's name.

Checking the countdown timer in the void, there were still over two hours left, while the stationery and teaching aids from the supply cooperative would take at least another four hours to arrive.

Thus, he requested an additional six hours from the system. With several hundred million sitting in his bank account, it was a trivial expense.

Right at that moment, Chen Lin suddenly realized: with such a massive plot of land, if his respawn point was still set at his villa, and the system dropped everything right onto it later on, wouldn't his villa instantly be flattened into two dimensions?