Chapter 1984: Not a Pure Sucker

Everywhere else needs authentication, but these ten cruise ships are practically easy mode—once we get inside and find the hiding spot, we can just walk off with the goods.

Little Taotie strode forward, buzzing with excitement the whole way.

"So happy?" Hua Jinyan asked with a smile.

Little Taotie couldn’t help laughing. Her little dimples sank deep, her brows and eyes curved, like a secretly gloating Kitty. Her round chubby face with its full apple cheeks was overflowing with festivity, and the joy was contagious—Hua Jinyan’s own smile widened because of it.

"I just think about how there’s going to be a lot of money later, and I get really happy. Tell me, how much do you think there’ll be?"

"Probably quite a bit."

"Hehehe..." Little Taotie laughed out loud. "I’m about to strike it rich! Then I can build taller buildings for my brothers and sisters, do even better renovations, and give every house a full smart home system!"

Hua Jinyan looked at her, his gaze indulgent and gentle. Sometimes he really didn’t understand why Little Taotie insisted on doing all this. It was clearly a lot of effort for very little payoff. But she always lit up because of those people’s gratitude, like it made everything deeply meaningful.

"I’ll sponsor you."

"Hehe, no need. Once we get all the money out of that wheelchair bastard, it should be enough to build loads and loads of places. By then my buildings will be blooming all over the map!"

The two of them reached the first cruise ship. The entrance required fingerprint verification, but with computer whiz Hua Jinyan there, it was cracked in no time.

"It’s huge!" Little Taotie exclaimed.

"These ten cruise ships are probably all limited editions."

Little Taotie blinked. "They even make limited editions of cruise ships?"

Hua Jinyan nodded. "My father wanted to buy this model too, to use as a film set, but unfortunately he didn’t manage to grab one."

"Even Uncle Hua couldn’t get it?" Little Taotie giggled. "Then when it’s Uncle Hua’s birthday, I’ll give him this cruise ship as a present!"

Hua Jinyan’s gaze softened. "He’d be over the moon."

"It’s not brand new—will that be okay?" Little Taotie suddenly hesitated.

Hua Jinyan shook his head. "Just being able to get on this cruise ship would already satisfy him. He doesn’t care whether it’s new or not. He has a pair of limited-edition sneakers he really likes, but he missed out when they first dropped. Later someone resold them, technically not second-hand anymore, more like third-hand or fourth-hand, and he still scrambled to pay a sky-high price for them."

Little Taotie looked baffled. "If something’s good, why not just make more of it? Why limit it? Isn’t business supposed to be: the more goods you have, the more people buy, and the more money you make?"

"Limited-edition sales are basically the opposite of small profits with quick turnover, but the money they rake in isn’t any less. The price they set can be dozens, hundreds, even tens of thousands of times the cost. Fans still jump into the pit even though they know the production cost is low, but because of some kind of ’feelings’ or sentiment, they’re still willing to pay up."

"That’s just stupid." Little Taotie scratched her head. "If the cost is dirt cheap but you pay a fortune for it, isn’t that pure sucker behavior? That’s exactly getting your leeks cut! I’m not buying that stuff!"

Little Taotie had learned the phrase "cutting leeks" from her new dorm friends.

Back then she thought her roommate was literally going out to harvest leeks and almost caused a misunderstanding. Kind-hearted Little Taotie remembered there was a row of leeks on the back hill and wanted to cut them to give to her roommate. Only later did she figure out that "cutting leeks" basically meant the same thing as "fleecing suckers."

"Why is there an ink painting here?" In this ultra-modern luxury cabin, there was suddenly something completely out of tune with the rest of the design—a yellowing traditional ink landscape painting.