Jonathan is just a very, very ordinary citizen of the empire, with an ordinary job, an ordinary family and two very cute, but only very cute children.
The dull life and the pressure on his shoulders made him forget the ideals and pursuits of his youth. His surging passion was wasted in the cold and numb life, and he finally became the person he least wanted to be when he was young - a soulless person. Adults who look like zombies.
Maybe sometimes when he was drunk, he would recall the ideals and unrealistic pursuits of his youth, and he would shed tears of regret or hatred for his current sinking. But when the eastern sky gradually lit up, his The drunken state gradually faded away, and he began to return to reality and his so-called reason.
Numbness was a label he gave himself at the age of thirty-two, a numb life, a numb work, a numb state, a numb mind, no passion, no impulse, and the whole world was gray.
"What is this?" A numb Jonathan stood at the checkout counter of the supermarket. After he bought some supplies that his family needed for a week, the cashier handed him a palm-sized colorful card.
There were some very bright colors printed on it, and various powerful fonts were spread across all corners of the card. He remembered that he had not purchased such a thing, nor had he asked for additional services.
The additional services and value-added services in supermarkets are often very deceptive, and all those who think they have taken advantage will eventually find out that they are the ones who really suffer.
A supermarket held a promotion event before. You only need to pay a card fee of 29.9 yuan to get a long-term discount. Many people thought this was a good event until the supermarket told them that every card application fee was 29.9 yuan. When there was a limited consumption limit every month, everyone realized that this was a fraud.
Either you spend up to the consumption limit set by the supermarket every month, so that you can continue to enjoy long-term discount prices in the next month and beyond. However, if you do not consume up to the set limit, the discount benefits will be cancelled, and twenty-nine The $9 discount activation fee will not be refunded.
This puts many customers who have paid fees in order to take advantage of it in a dilemma. If they don’t spend money to buy something, twenty-nine and nine dollars is completely invalid. It will not return to their pockets, and it will not create more value. Besides, I haven't earned back the twenty-nine and ninety-nine yuan from the things I have already purchased. This is too stupid.
But if you follow the rules and buy the full amount every month, a family can't actually consume so many products, and if you don't let the discount right of twenty-nine and nine yuan disappear, you have to bite the bullet and spend more money to consume. Even stupider.
It wasn't until someone finally filed a lawsuit with the supermarket that the matter was "resolved." The supermarket publicly apologized for not clarifying the rules, and symbolically expressed its admiration for the customer who sued the supermarket. Nine dollars and nine, as for the others
You can go to court with them and they will lose money.
Some people say that this lawsuit was filed by the supermarket itself. The purpose is to make those dissatisfied people realize the reality. After spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a lawsuit, they can only get back less than 20 dollars in losses. , if they don’t mind losing more to get such a small amount of compensation, the supermarkets won’t mind playing a lawsuit game with them.
This incident eventually disappeared in rounds of new public opinions, but the inspiration and business routines it brought were gradually improved by people, and as a result, a new term appeared in business to describe it. Words like this—sunk costs.
Many people knew about this, so Jonathan became alert in an instant. He put the small card back on the cashier and returned it, "I don't need to buy any coupons or membership cards, nor do I need any added value. Serve!"
It can be seen that he is very resistant to these things. The cashier smiled and expressed his understanding. Basically, most customers are resistant to these things, but in fact they do not know that these things will soon become a trend and become more popular. The mature way of moisturizing things appears silently around people, kidnapping people and pressing their heads to make them willingly consume in supermarkets.
"Sir, this is a lottery ticket. As long as you purchase something for more than ten yuan, you will have such a lottery ticket." The cashier pushed the lottery ticket over again, "You can go to the side and uncover it. Before Someone has already taken away a microwave oven. Of course, if you really don’t need it, you can give it to me orally, then I can legally own it and you don’t need to worry.”
People are like this, they will become wary when faced with some inexplicable kindness, but if someone wants to take away this kindness at this time, people will become hesitant.
He hesitated and held the lottery ticket tightly in his hand, paid the cash and quickly left the counter. At a resting place not far away, he opened the prize redemption area according to the knowledge on the back of the lottery ticket.
At 7:30 in the evening, Mrs. Jonathan, who had prepared dinner, looked at Jonathan in the living room, wiped her hands and walked over with some doubts. Ever since her husband came back from buying some things, he had become a little... She couldn't tell, just It's like the soul has drifted away.
"Dear, what's wrong with you? Do you have any problems at work?" She sat next to Jonathan very gently and asked him carefully.
This is a very traditional family. Jonathan works alone to support his wife and two children. With his own struggle, persistence, and numbness, he has a pretty good job, earning 119 dollars a month. The salary of seventy-five cents is not yet the income standard of the middle class in the South, but it is much higher than the salary of ordinary people, and it is enough for him to support his family.
Without financial independence, women tend to have a lower status in the family and have little real say, so she behaves very docile and gentle.
Jonathan forced a smile, "No, honey, everything is fine."
He obviously didn't want to share the problems that were troubling him, so Mrs. Jonathan could only give up and go upstairs to ask the children to eat.
During the meal, Jonathan was so absent-minded that the children didn't notice. Mrs. Jonathan didn't want her husband to bother her, so she kept her mouth shut.
Jonathan stayed in this state for three, four, five, six or seven days, and finally his wife couldn't help but asked again after dinner on the weekend, "Honey, are you in any trouble?"
Jonathan looked at his wife for a long time this time before slowly nodding, "I... don't know what to do. Maybe you can give me some help."
He took out the lottery ticket and a certificate of receipt from his pocket and put it on the table. His wife, who had studied in primary school and middle school and knew how to read, fell silent after reading it.
The ticket showed that Jonathan had won the grand prize, and the prize was a "fragment of the map." This was a very special prize. There were 5,000 winners nationwide.
Each of these people has a "map fragment" that marks the hiding of supplies in a certain part of a certain area. On the fragment in Jonathan's hand, there are four such supply points, including two guns. Ammunition supply point.
The winner can use the fragments of this map and the winning certificate to go to Ambluo State for free to participate in the "Wild Escape" game for at least two weeks. Before that, they will also undergo a week of wilderness survival training and combat training.
As long as they can enter the top 1,000, everyone will receive a cash reward of at least 200 yuan. If they can survive the continuous elimination, they can reach the top 500, the top 300, the top 100, or even the final top. Three, all the prize money accumulated will be a shocking number.
In particular, the first place will receive a full bonus of 300,000 yuan alone. Adding bonuses for each stage, the first place will receive at least a reward of no less than 400,000 yuan!
In addition, every time a player is eliminated by hand, he will receive a reward of at least 50 yuan and a maximum of 500 yuan. Someone has calculated that if he can get the first place, the first place bonus may be as much as 500,000 yuan!
Five hundred thousand, for many people, this wealth is an unattainable dream in their lifetime, but today, an invitation card to the palace of wealth appears in the hands of these ordinary people.
Temporarily give up your job and take a gamble on a glorious future. Or should you give up this opportunity and continue to be a numb person, living numbly in this numb society, without ideals, no pursuits, and no Impulse, only numbness.
The couple sat at the table and looked at the winning certificate and lottery tickets for a long time. Finally, Mrs. Jonathan rubbed her sore neck, raised her hand and pressed it on the back of Jonathan's hand. She looked at Jonathan with eyes. She had never been serious before. She gently held half of his cheeks with her hands, her movements careful and gentle, "Do what you want, you will always be our hero, remember?"
Jonathan was a little surprised. He thought that the biggest resistance was his wife. He had tried to take risks several times, but his wife had blocked him. Even the urge to consume was blocked and persuaded. .
But he didn't expect that his wife didn't stop him, but supported him. Only then did he realize that the biggest resistance was not others, but himself.
He is eager for change, eager for a passionate life, and eager to make the world full of color, but he is also afraid of change. He has been hesitant because he is thinking about what to do if he fails and loses his job, how to ensure the family's finances and the life of his family. How to solve it.
Whenever he thinks about this, the purpose of his thinking has actually deviated from the topic he originally wanted to think about, but this time it is different.
"You are our hero. Thank you very much for taking care of us for so long, but this time, live for yourself!" Mrs. Jonathan looked at her husband with a smile, and gently stroked his cheek, which was a bit prickly, "No need. Worry about us and we will support all your choices.”
Jonathan asked in confusion, "Why?"
His wife was smiling as before. She was not particularly beautiful, but it gave people a very warm feeling, and her heart was filled with heat. "Both the child and I hope that even if you don't have a smile on your face, you won't be smiling." It will be painful…”
Jonathan hugged his wife tightly and said nothing.
Three days later, he argued with the department manager in the company's office, handed in his resignation letter, packed his things, and left the company under the watchful eyes of many indifferent colleagues.
"He will regret it!" This is the roar of the department manager. Even if the office door is closed, people can still hear the anger in this roar.
There were some subtle changes in the eyes of some colleagues, but most of them were as indifferent as ever. They quickly lowered their heads and started to deal with their work. As for Jonathan's resignation
No one will take it seriously. If he doesn't do it, someone else will take his place. The only one who will lose is himself.
The next morning, their family had already boarded the train to Ambiluo State, preparing to participate in this "Wild Escape" event and compete for the 400,000 in prize money!
The event planned by Du Lin this time happened to be during the spring break, which met the time requirements of all age groups. As for whether some people are willing to resign to participate in the event, Du Lin cannot guarantee it, but no matter how many people do not come this time, As long as people show up, this event is sure to be packed next year!
He will give out a total of 3 million in bonuses, plus various other expenses. The funds to hold a wilderness battle royale exceed 10 million. It seems that he is suffering a big loss, but it is not like that. calculate.
The venue layout fee can not only be used for this one time, but can also be used for future activities. In addition to the buyout fee of the cable TV group and the fees of some advertisers, more than half of it has been earned back.
Moreover, in Otis City, the seven major casinos have already opened a public market. After the competition registration day is over, the information of each contestant will be released, and then they will accept bets from the entire empire and even the world.
There are a total of ten rounds of betting, and a single bet only costs 50 points. If you hit all ten rounds, you can get a bonus of 800,000 yuan, and there are more gambling projects in it, which is enough to earn back the money Du Lin invested. And make more money.
Therefore, many times when rich people have enough money, their money will start to reproduce itself. This has nothing to do with whether they have business acumen or business ability, because money will reproduce itself.
After the vigorous event was announced to the public, it immediately attracted many people to Ambluo State to watch the game up close. Some people were also asking if they could participate in the battle royale game in other ways. Unfortunately, there are currently no other ways to participate in the battle royale game. channel.
However, according to the black market transaction list in Ambiluo State, the current price of "battle royale tickets" on the black market has risen to more than 700 yuan a piece, and it will continue to rise.
At such a moment when the world's attention was focused on Ambiro state, Jonathan saw the organizer of this event, Dulin, at the largest opera house in the capital of Ambiro state.
(End of chapter)