Chapter 7 (1/2)

The Eternal Club 7: Walking Through the Long River of Time

“The Time Merchant?” repeated Zheng Bowen after hearing what Lu Li said. After combining that information with what he was seeing around him, he could sort of guess what was going on and he looked back at Lu Li in shock.

“I’ve been wandering the earth for countless years…buying years of the life of numerous humans and selling them to others who needs these years and can afford to pay for them.”

Lu Li’s expression was calm as he slowly introduced himself.

“So…Mr. Zheng, I’m wondering if you have any extra time, you’d like to sell to me,” asked Lu Li after a short pause.

Zheng Bowen immediately realized something very crucial – this mysterious merchant had been able to accurately address him by his surname even though he hadn’t introduced himself at all.

However, Zheng Bowen also did not turn Lu Li down immediately because it was true that he was in need of money right now.

The girl he had a crush on in school was celebrating her birthday soon. He was working part-time because he wanted to buy her the latest iPhone model.

But Zheng Bowen wasn’t the type to lose all rationality so easily. The next thing he thought about, was how much time he even had left to live and started to look hesitant.

“Your name is Zheng Bowen, you’re 21 years old this year and you’re left with 65 years, 126 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds to live.”

Lu Li noticed Zheng Bowen’s hesitation and rattled off the stats he could see floating above Zheng Bowen’s head.

Zheng Bowen did not doubt the numbers Lu Li said at all. After he heard how much more time he had left, he brightened up and instantly decided to sell at least one or two years of his life.

“Er…about the price…” asked Zheng Bowen cautiously.

“The price is based on how much value you can churn out within one year of your life.”

“If the total amount of tangible and intangible assets you amass in a year add up to less than $100,000, then I will pay you $300,000 for one year of your time.”

“If your total assets add up to more than $100,000, I will pay you three times that amount in exchange for one year,” replied Lu Li simply.

“I’m just a student, so I haven’t…” started Zheng Bowen as he tried to increase his own value and get more money out of this transaction.

“Then I will pay you $300,000 for one year of your life. This price is not negotiable. That’s how it has been since time immemorial,” Lu Li cut Zheng Bowen off immediately and didn’t give him the chance to continue speaking.

He proceeded to take his file out and took out a copy of the Time Purchasing Contract, filled the fields out and passed it to Zheng Bowen.

“If you are agreeable to this purchase, please sign here.”

“This is our first transaction, so according to the rules, I am only allowed to buy one year of your life from you.”

Lu Li didn’t say anymore after that.

Zheng Bowen looked carefully at the contract in front of him.

“$300,000?” thought Zheng Bowen as he started making some simple calculations.

“This is no small sum to an ordinary person like me, because most people wouldn’t be able to earn this much in a year.”