r18novel Chapter 35 Making Money is Really Hard
Chapter 35 Making Money is Really Hard
Half an hour later, Hannah and Lucas headed to the Diagon Alley business administration office again.
In Lucas's arms lay a roll of parchment and a letter, exuding a faint scent of ink.
The parchment was a magical contract. Tom, in the name of the Leaky Cauldron owner and a member of the Abbott family, wrote a letter of introduction for Lucas, guaranteeing him a place to open his own snack stand in Diagon Alley. In return, Lucas promised to give Tom a quarter of the snack stand's profits every day, regardless of how well the business performed.
"I'm sorry, Lucas," Hannah suddenly whispered as she walked forward with her head down. She didn't dare look at Lucas, her fingers fidgeting with her hair. "I told Uncle Tom he shouldn't have taken your money..."
Lucas laughed heartily. "It's nothing, Hannah, it's normal business. It also shows that Mr. Abbott thinks highly of my stall and is willing to invest, doesn't it?"
Hannah hesitated for a moment: "Uh, so you're not angry?"
"Of course I'm not angry." Lucas shook his head. "It's fair. Hannah, just come and support me when my food stall opens."
Hannah's expression brightened immediately, and she nodded vigorously. "Okay, Lucas, your sweet soup is so delicious! I'll bring all my friends!"
Then she paused, blushing, and added, "We'll all pay."
The two pushed open the wooden door of the business management office again and entered the hall. This time, in front of the horse-faced witch was a middle-aged man in worn-out robes, looking disheveled. She was still impatient, answering his questions in a perfunctory manner.
"I said, how can you not understand..." She had just finished saying those words when she suddenly saw Lucas and Hannah, and her voice suddenly rose.
"Why are you here again?"
The man was startled and turned around to see Lucas standing in front of the information desk, placing a letter on the table.
"Madam, I have a letter of introduction."
"A letter of introduction?" the witch scoffed. "What letter of introduction could you possibly have? I mean, who would write you one?"
She grabbed the letter, tossed it away with a flick of her wrist, and looked as if Lucas owed her a thousand Galleons.
"Get out of here right now—"
The witch suddenly stopped. Just as the letter flew out of her hand, she saw the gold-lacquered wax seal on it, and it looked like a family crest was tapped on the wax seal.
With a thud, the envelope landed on the floor, right face up, the wax seal bearing the emblem gleaming with gold.
The hall was silent for a couple of seconds. The witch looked at Lucas, then at the letter, her gaze blank.
"You—" Hannah said angrily.
Then, the witch sprang up abruptly, leaving the armchair that Lucas thought was welded to her backside. Waving her wand, she frantically tucked the letter into her bosom.
"Oh no... I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
The witch held the letter, staring intently at the clearly visible family crest on the wax seal, her expression shifting rapidly. As a front desk staff member, memorizing these crests was a basic requirement, and this crest was—
"I'm so sorry, so very sorry..."
Her voice suddenly became sincere, this time filled with genuine apology.
His long, horse-like face seemed to shorten slightly as he forced an awkward smile: "Sir, what is your relationship to the Abbott family?"
The Twenty-Eight Sacred Clans... although they wield less and less actual power, they still wield considerable influence. For one thing, a single complaint from them would be enough to cause them serious trouble.
"Tom Abbott, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, wrote this letter for me," Lucas said lightly. "And this lady next to me is Hannah Abbott, my classmate."
"Oh dear, oh dear, why didn't you say so sooner?" The witch suddenly broke into a bright smile. "See, if you had brought out the letter of introduction earlier, there wouldn't have been any misunderstandings. What kind of business did you want to conduct?"
"Wait a minute..." the middle-aged man next to him said impatiently, "They haven't explained what I asked them about clearly yet."
The witch's face darkened abruptly, and she waved her hand impatiently, as if he were some kind of fly or mosquito.
"I've already made myself clear! If you insist on asking, then just wait!"
Then she turned to him, her smile radiant: "How can I help you and Miss Abbott?"
"Oh, no rush," Lucas smiled. "We'll wait in line. Please help this gentleman with his problem first."
……
Fifteen minutes later, the horse-faced witch led them to an office, explained the situation to the staff, and handed them a letter of introduction for Tom Abbott. She then solicitously took an application form and offered Lucas a quill pen.
Seeing that Lucas and Hannah had no intention of complaining, the horse-faced witch breathed a sigh of relief and carefully closed the door.
With this letter of introduction, things went very smoothly. The staff readily approved Lucas's application and gave him a constantly flashing, numbered badge.
This is the number of his stall, number 77.
Lucas was very pleased because his birthday is July 7th, and "7" is also his lucky number.
"The numbered plate is valid for one year. After that, you need to reapply, and it can only be renewed after approval," the staff member said.
"Thank you." Lucas carefully put away the number plate and turned to leave.
The staff member quickly stopped him: "Wait, Mr. McGregor, it's not finished yet. Uh... you need to pay a year's management fee, one hundred and twenty gallons."
Lucas was stunned, and the staff were also taken aback.
"If you don't have enough money, you'll need to prepay at least one month's fee, which is ten Galleons." The staff member quickly realized what was going on. "However, in that case, you'll have to come back every month to pay, otherwise your numbered tag will be suspended."
Lucas patted his pockets; there wasn't a single knaut there. The staff member blinked, watching him silently.
Lucas was extremely embarrassed. Why hadn't Mr. Tom mentioned this?
With a few crisp clinking sounds, ten gold coins were placed on the table.
Turning around in surprise, I saw Hannah's braids bouncing gently, her round face flushed.
"Here you go, Lucas. Consider it a loan. We're friends, aren't we?"
"Thank you, Hannah!" Lucas didn't stand on ceremony; this was a timely help, and Hannah was truly a kind and good girl. "I'll pay you back when I earn the money."
After paying the management fee, Lucas, who was about to leave, was handed another contract.
"Mr. McGregor, this is the last item; you need to sign this contract."
Lucas took the contract, glanced at it a few times, and then his eyes widened suddenly.
"I solemnly promise that all the goods I sell are made from raw materials sourced from the magical world or produced by wizards, and are not Muggle products..."
Seeing him staring intently at the text, the staff assumed he hadn't understood it and explained, "Since the Muggles have grown, all sorts of strange and wonderful things have appeared. In the early years, many people sold those things into our world, causing a lot of trouble. Some even tried to scour the Muggle world for goods and resell them in the wizarding world to earn Galleons; they were all thrown into Azkaban."
"You know, this kind of behavior should definitely be completely banned, otherwise our economy will collapse. What's even more terrifying is that as this behavior expands, the Secrecy Act will gradually become a worthless piece of paper, and then our world will be in danger. Therefore, we must ensure that the entire economic cycle is completed within the magical world..."
Lucas felt as if he had been struck by lightning. It turned out that the trick he had come up with had been thought of by someone else hundreds of years ago!
He said dryly, "What if I use ingredients from Muggles to make food—"
"It's fine if you eat it yourself or entertain friends and family," the staff member said. "But you can't use it for profit; that's illegal! The management office will conduct surprise inspections from time to time, and this contract you've signed has magical power; you absolutely cannot violate it."
Good heavens! Lucas was on the verge of tears.
Why is it so hard to earn some Galleons?