บท 4: Renting a Store (Edited)

Inchoate wasn't a big city. It could be said to be a low-tier city. Crystal city was a mid-tier city. In this case, one could easily see that Crystal city was bigger and prestigious than Inchoate city.

But still, Jack felt that this was the right place for him to start. Although Inchoate city was smaller than Crystal city, Alfonso family hadn't extended their hands into this city yet.

After all, although the family was rich, it wasn't to the extent that it could cover all the cities. Having its influence in two cities was the maximum that the Alfonso family could manage. After all, the more cities they influenced, the more opponents the family would be facing.

And although they had no great influence in the city, that didn't mean that they didn't exist. There were people from this city and others that had a cooperation with the Alfonso family. That meant that they could do the Alfonso family a favor by blocking him.

But still, Jack thought that since he was just a small person and he wasn't going around offending others, they wouldn't care about him at all. That's what he was hoping for.

The taxi entered the city before heading towards the eastern part of it. Crystal city was north of Inchoate city. Yellow street that Jack wanted to go to was found in the eastern part of the city.

Yellow street wasn't that prestigious. It could also be said to be the poorest side of the city. But, that's where Jack could afford to start.

The driver was wondering what a person from the great Alfonso family of Crystal city was going to do in the poor Yellow street. But, that was none of his concern. He simply took out his phone and texted Brenda on where he was taking Jack.

On the other hand, Jack took out his phone. It wasn't a recent one but one that was about to go out of fashion. It was a smartphone, but it wasn't the latest version.

He scrolled through and looked at the messages. He found that other than the promotional messages, there was no other message. It seemed that his father didn't care about him leaving the family after all.

He sighed and checked his bank account balance. Since he began saving, he had never checked how much he had in his savings account. He always kept some cash aside that he could use. As for others, he saved all of it.

{Flyers Bank Savings Account Balance is $43,275.}

He sighed as he saw this. It wasn't even a hundred thousand. One had to know that Jack was saving this money since he was thirteen. In other words, this was a six years worth of savings.

It seemed that the money that he was receiving from the Alfonso family wasn't that much at all. After all, apart from his usual expenses, there was nothing else that Jack used the money that he had on, apart from saving it.

"We're here." The driver's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He then put back his phone into his backpack and got out of the taxi. He was just about to leave when the taxi driver shouted at him.

"Hey, you haven't paid yet!"

Jack didn't bother to explain that Brenda had said that she had paid for him. After all, he knew that Brenda wasn't such a nice person that could pay for him something like that. Furthermore, she didn't know where he was heading to, so, there was no way she could pay.

"How much is it?" Jack asked.

"180 dollars," The driver replied. Jack took out two hundred dollars and handed them to the driver. "Keep the change."

He wasn't ready to wait for change as he needed to get a place to stay and get lunch.

The driver stared at Jack's departing figure and thought to himself, 'He's such a generous young man. Too bad that those that are dealing with him are big potatoes that I can't dare to offend.'

And with that, he stepped on the accelerator and left the street.

….

Crystal city, Alfonso main mansion.

"So, you're telling me that Jack left the family and headed to Inchoate city?" A man's deep voice echoed inside the living room.

"Yes father, he said that he wanted to fend for himself. But I didn't think that he would go to such a backward place. What's more, he went to the poorest area, yellow street of Inchoate street. If anyone knows that he's a member of Alfonso family, then I'm sure that our family's reputation would go down." Brenda replied as she sat opposite a blonde haired man.

This was the current head of the Alfonso family and Jack's father, Dalton Alfonso. He had short blonde hair, green eyes and well trimmed beard. He was already aging, heading towards his late forties as he was forty seven years old.

His current expression wasn't looking good at all. After all, his son had just left the family without saying a word. What's more, he headed towards the poorest area of a small city. This was demeaning of his identity as the current CEO of Fonso Group.

He was Jack's father and a CEO of a multimillion group. If even his son was living life of a beggar, his reputation in the circle would surely be diminished.

What's more, there were brothers and cousins of his who were eyeing his position. He was sure that they were going to use this so as to give him a good blow.

After thinking things through, he found a solution. He tightened his heart and gave a verdict. "From this moment onwards, Jack is no longer a member of Alfonso family."

His words shocked all those that were present in the living room. It was more so those that were planning on what to do during the general meeting of the family.

They had never expected that Dalton would be so cruel as to disown his own son just so as to maintain his position as the CEO. In other words, the position was more important than the son.

….

Jack had no idea that he had just been disowned by his own father. But even if he knew, he wouldn't care as his father never cared about him anyway. So, there was no difference at all.

He was currently in a small apartment that he'd just rented. This apartment wasn't that much shabby, although it was small.

It had a living room and a bedroom. The living room was divided into two, where the small area of the two was the kitchen. There was water and electricity. So, Jack wasn't worried about his life here.

Although he was living in Yellow street, he was living at the area that could be said that the rich of this street could be found. The apartment that he'd just rented had three floors. He was on the second floor.

Currently, he was eating some noodles for lunch. This was his frugal life. Although he had over forty thousand dollars savings, he wouldn't use it for expenses. That was what he was going to use as capital.

After his simple meal, he went to the shops' agent of the street. This was where if a person wanted to get a shop, either to rent or purchase, they would go to.

The office was only one in the entire street that had a rich man's vibe. It wasn't that big. It was a four storey building that was painted blue and black, what a strange mixture! They called themselves Leviation Agencies.

"Hello sir, what would you like today? Renting or buying a shop?" The receptionist asked.

"I would like to rent a shop in the upper areas of the street. So, what's the price?" Jack asked.

"Mmh, what kind of shop would you like to rent?" the receptionist lady asked politely.

"Just a small shop that can be used for selling groceries and other house necessities." Jack replied.

He had already thought about what he was going to do. With a small shop to sell such items, he was sure that he wouldn't miss customers.

"We have a grocery store that already has stock. It was sold by the owner to our agency two days ago. But, all the items that can expire have all been sold out, and only those with a long shelf life are left. If you're interested, we can rent this store to you." After going through a list on the counter, the receptionist replied.

Jack thought for a moment and felt that it wasn't bad. So, he decided to get it.

Seeing that Jack had accepted, the receptionist revealed a smile and said, "The store is located closer to the end of the street, bordering Alpine street. It has an area of 1,500m². This area is open and the traffic is good too. So, the rental cost would be $700 per month."

Seeing Jack nodding, she continued, "As for the stock that is in the store, according to the calculations that had been made yesterday, they are worth $17,489."

Jack thought for a moment and accepted. He could boost the store if the business was going to do good. If not, he would have to change it.

"I will be checking it later on. In case everything doesn't match what you have just said, you will have to give me a refund." Jack stated seriously.

"You don't have to worry about that." The receptionist responded with a simple smile.

As such, Jack completed the payment of $18,389. The extra two hundred was for the service fee. The store had a license already which was included in the stock.

Currently, Jack was left with $24,886. With this, if the business failed, he could start another one.

With that, Jack left the store with the documents that showed that he was the current tenant of the store. The store wasn't that far from the agency office, it was just a five minute walk and Jack was there.