Chapter 4: No Cost, Huge Profits
Volume 3 of Jingde Chuandeng Lu: Emperor Wu of Liang asked Bodhidharma: "Since I ascended the throne, I have built temples, copied scriptures, and ordained monks countless times. What merits have I gained?" The master said: "None at all."
An afternoon of feasting for stray cats and dogs brought Rongyuan 135 merit points.
New merchandise items were soon opened. Apart from those flashy props, the main thing was the exchange of the four basic attributes of [Strength], [Agility], [Constitution], and [Intelligence]. These names looked like the attribute values of game characters, but they were actually completely different, and their exchange values were also different. In the game, the basic attributes of characters can be easily increased by dozens or hundreds of points, but in the Merit Mall, the merit exchange of these attributes is gradually increased.
[Strength] Rong Yuan's strength value is 15. To redeem the first point of strength, 10 merits are required, the second point requires 11 merits, the third point requires 12 merits, and so on. The redemption rules for [Agility] are the same as [Strength]. The redemption of [Constitution] is more expensive, the first point requires 10 merits, the second point requires 15 merits, the third point requires 20 merits, and so on.
Intelligence is the most unreasonable attribute. At first, 10 merits can only be exchanged for 0.001 intelligence. After 3,000 exchanges, that is, when intelligence increases by 3 points, the exchange price will become 100 merits for 0.001 intelligence. When the intelligence reaches 10, 0.001 intelligence requires 1,000 merits. After that, the exchange price will increase tenfold for every 10 points of intelligence increase.
Rong Yuan silently calculated in his mind that if he wanted to exchange [Intelligence] to 100, the merit value he needed would be 1111.1111102933 trillion... In comparison, his merit value of more than negative 100 million was not even a fraction of it, it was just a drizzle.
——May I ask, does God have so many merits? Does Tathagata Buddha have them? ? Do the Three Pure Ones have them? ? ?
Finally, Rong Yuan decided to exchange three points of agility and 10 days of life. The exchange of basic attributes was not as silent as the exchange of life. When he selected [Confirm Exchange], a small light spot floated up from the picture representing [Agility] - a simple drawing of a running person - like a firefly quietly suspended in the air. Rong Yuan touched it with his hand, and the light spot disappeared on his fingertips. Then an indescribable feeling flowed through his body, as if a weak electric current was constantly washing his body, and every cell was twitching and trembling in this slight tingling pain.
This feeling was certainly not pleasant, Rong Yuan gritted his teeth and held on, fortunately after three to five minutes the strange feeling completely faded away. He waved his arms and kicked his legs, and in addition to being covered in sweat, his body seemed to be lighter - he was not sure if this was his illusion.
Looking at the last five points of merit, Rong Yuan flipped through the product catalog of the Merit Mall, feeling a little hesitant.
He originally didn't want to spend his merits on daily necessities or luxury goods, as he didn't think he needed them, but now his mind has changed.
In one afternoon and evening, he spent nearly a thousand yuan and gained 135 merit points, an average of about 7.5 yuan for one merit point.
In the Merit Mall, 1 merit point can be exchanged for 1 carat of high-quality diamond, which is worth at least 40,000 or 50,000 yuan; and 2 merit points can be exchanged for 1 kilogram of gold, which is equivalent to 300,000 yuan at the current gold price.
To put it more bluntly, if he feeds a dozen stray dogs, he can buy a three-bedroom, two-living-room house in the center of Qinghai City; if he scores again like he did this afternoon, he will immediately become a multi-millionaire.
The huge gap between effort and reward is enough to make anyone tremble with fear. Even if Rong Yuan was calm and composed, his heart would beat like a drum. He struggled again and again, but finally couldn't help but exchange 1 point of merit for an old-fashioned gold bracelet.
After all, one kilogram of gold is still too conspicuous. This kind of gold bracelet is just right. Although the price-performance ratio is reduced, it is safer and more practical. He can use the excuse that it is a relic of his elders and no one will doubt it. Considering its not light weight, it should be able to sell for tens of thousands.
An urgent and excited mood urged Rong Yuan to act as soon as possible, so he tossed and turned all night and didn't sleep well. He was thinking about what excuses and expressions he could use to gain the trust of the owner of the gold shop, what he should do if the money exchange didn't go smoothly, where he should buy a better house, and what it would be like to become the richest man in the world ... His brain was always in a highly excited state, and he didn't sleep for half an hour until dawn because he was too sleepy. When the noise of people getting up early to go to work and school in the community sounded, Rong Yuan immediately jumped up like a clockwork, packed up casually, stuffed the bracelet into his schoolbag and went out.
He got up too early, and the gold shop closest to his home and with the best reputation would not open for another hour and a half. After pacing back and forth in front of the gold shop for more than a dozen times, Rong Yuan saw that someone was already observing him warily and suspiciously. His excited brain finally sobered up a little, and he turned around to look at the closed door of the gold shop and decided to wait until the shop opened before coming back.
——Hmm…I also need to buy a wig and flat glasses…to create a disguise.
Rong Yuan walked along the road and unknowingly came to a small bridge. He was tired, so he lay on the railing to rest for a while. The five fingers of his right hand quickly tapped on the bridge railing in turn. He looked at his watch from time to time, eagerly wishing that time would fly by.
Rong Yuan looked down at the time again and his gaze accidentally swept across the water under the bridge, and he was stunned.
——What's going on? The person reflected in the river...is that him?
He leaned over and took a closer look at the reflection in the lake.
His hair was messy, he had forgotten to comb it in the morning; there was still some toothpaste foam on his face that had not been washed off; his originally clean T-shirt had a large stain from somewhere, which was black and greasy, and usually he would find it disgusting even to look at it, but now he had been wearing it for who knows how long; and - he looked down - the socks on his feet did not match, and a layer of dust had accumulated on the uppers.
More importantly, the somewhat blurry face in the water was flushed abnormally, and the look in his eyes was both crazy and confused, with a strange excitement , which made people feel that this person's sanity was on the verge of collapse, and the line in his brain was about to be broken.
A light breeze blew, creating ripples on the water, tearing the reflected face into pieces. However, Rong Yuan still stared blankly, his eyes gradually regaining their usual calmness and rationality.
Finally, he closed his eyes, took out the gold bracelet from his schoolbag, thought for a while, wrapped his fingers with a tissue and carefully wiped off the fingerprints inside and outside the bracelet. Then he loosened his fingers and watched the golden light that had just carried many of his fantasies and ambitions fall into the water with a "plop".
As the ripples on the water surface gradually subsided, the last bit of reluctance and unwillingness in Rong Yuan's heart finally faded away.
He walked to the public faucet in the green belt beside the bridge and turned the water to the maximum. The cold water rushed over his head, and his whole body shuddered. His brain, which was still a little confused due to lack of sleep, suddenly became clear. After flushing for more than ten seconds, Rong Yuan washed his face and hands with water, turned off the faucet, shook off the water droplets on his head, and wiped the cold water that was still dripping on his face. He felt deeply that he was a complete idiot from yesterday afternoon to now.
He should have thought of it earlier... This exchange, this kind of huge income that seemed to be a profit without any effort, was a complete trap.
Or it can be said that this is a test of the character of the contractor by the Book of Merits.
What will happen next if he really takes this gold bracelet to the gold shop to exchange it for money?
From the first time he tasted the benefits without paying any price, he would be like a drug addict. No matter how many times he warned himself to stop, he would not be able to resist exchanging for the second, third, and fourth time...
Then, every time he encountered financial difficulties, he could not help but turn to the "Book of Merits" to solve them.
Later, when he encounters difficulties in other aspects, he will begin to rely entirely on the power of the "Book of Merits".
What's more, even his daily life will become completely dependent on the "Book of Merits", including food, clothes, drinking water, furniture, vehicles, medicines... He believes that the goods exchanged in the Merit Mall will definitely be healthier, more affordable and of better quality than those purchased in the real world.
As the number of times increases, there will be more and more flaws, and the loopholes will become larger and larger. No matter how perfect the lies and excuses are, they will not be able to withstand the scrutiny of those who are interested. But correspondingly, one's own vigilance will become weaker and weaker. Luck, greed, inertia of thinking, etc. will corrode his rationality without leaving anything behind, and he will gradually become a puppet of the "Book of Merits".
One day, the secret of the magical existence of the "Book of Merits" will be fully exposed to the public. What will happen to him then?
In that situation, will this suddenly appeared "Book of Merits" continue to stay with him and be his support?
Rong Yuan could not come up with the answer to this question even if he exhausted his imagination before it actually happened, but he knew that if he found out that someone around him actually had such a treasure, he would definitely try every possible means to get it.
Since he himself has such thoughts, he can't expect others to be upright and noble, or that everyone in the world has an IQ of only 50 and will never discover his secret.
"In a commodity society, when profits reach 50%, some people will take risks; when profits reach 100%, some people will trample on the law; when profits reach 300%, some people will risk their lives."
——Engels
The profit of "The Book of Merits" is more than 300%.
