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.”
“So, exchanging one year of my life for $300,000 is probably really worth it.”
“Besides…with this $300,000, I can buy even more things for Qingqing. She really liked that bag we saw the last time.”
“Working is the same as exchanging time for money anyway…”
Zheng Bowen kept trying to convince himself that this was a good deal.
His expression changed as he weighed the pros and cons in his head. A short while later, he grit his teeth and grabbed hold of the pen Lu Li had placed in front of him, and then signed his name in the field left blank for Party A.
Lu Li’s smile widened.
Time was still passing very slowly for the world around the two of them, as if they were still on pause.
Lu Li took the folder back from Zheng Bowen, scanned it once again to make sure everything was good to go, and then signed his own name in the field for Party B.
The moment he signed the contract, the contract took effect. It was now acknowledged by the forces that governed the universe!
“So…all of this is yours now.”
Lu Li took the black bag containing $300,000 that was next to him and threw it at Zheng Bowen.
Zheng Bowen’s breathing began to quicken as he caught the bag and opened it immediately. Stacks and stacks of bills appeared before his eyes.
Lu Li suddenly reached out as if to grab something from in front of Zheng Bowen’s face.
It was as if he had caught something.
But the only thing anyone could possibly see was how Zheng Bowen suddenly shivered and how a single strand of hair from his fringe instantly turned from black to white.
Lu Li himself now had an increase of one year to his lifespan, or 365 days.
“You can contact me at this number. If you want to make another transaction with me, you can give me a call.”
Lu Li left Zheng Bowen with the number of the new SIM card he had bought earlier.
Once the entire transaction was complete, Lu Li raised his hand and as if nothing had happened, both their table, and the rest of the world was back in sync with each other.
While 30 odd minutes of their time in the 100X speed had passed, only 18 seconds had passed in the real world.
“I’m off, bye.”
Lu Li got up and nodded slightly at Zheng Bowen, who was still in a daze.
Then he sauntered out of the noodle shop.
Zheng Bowen looked at Lu Li’s back as he walked away and felt that Lu Li was truly a mysterious character. It was as if Lu Li was walking through the river of time and going further and further away from him.