Chapter 1

1: 1

"Noah Dickerson, I'm here to talk to you on behalf of the folks in the village."

I looked at the mayor standing in front of me, and at the crowd of villagers behind him, and had no idea what this was about.

"You see, you've been using our village's fish pond for three years now. Back then we felt bad, knew starting a business wasn't easy for you, so we rented it to you for a hundred thousand a year. But now you've made your money. Don't you think it's about time we raised that?"

At that, I couldn't help but smile.

Three years ago, my father's restaurant company needed a large steady supply of bass, so I decided to set up a bass farm.

When my old classmate Dominic Lambert heard about it, he pushed hard for me to build it in Lambert Village.

That fish pond in Lambert Village hadn't been leased by anyone in years. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a stinking drainage ditch.

I brought in excavators to dredge it deep and expand it, and as my operation grew, plenty of villagers ended up working at my farm.

"We're not asking for much. Just give us a million a year for the pond, and that's fine."

I honestly wondered if something was wrong with my ears.

"A million? Mayor, you can't be serious."

Before the old mayor could answer, Joshua Lambert, who is Dominic's father, jumped in first.

"Not just the pond. Our wages need to go up too. I'm a manager, so I want at least twenty thousand a month."

"And I want at least ten thousand."

"Anything under ten grand, and we're not working."

"Right. Everyone knows you got rich off our village's pond."

"..."

I saw plain greed in the eyes of these villagers.

Only after they'd all shouted their piece did I speak, slow and unhurried. "Three years ago, nobody would rent this pond even for ten thousand a year. I only came and invested because Dominic is my classmate."

Then I turned my gaze to the villagers and said coldly, "And the rest of you. Before I came, you were all off working in other cities, making two or three thousand a month. Now you can stay home and make over five thousand."

Before I could finish, Joshua jumped in again.

"Enough, Noah, cut the nonsense. You think we don't know? This year alone you made over three million off our village's pond, and this is all you're giving us? You ungrateful dog."

"That's right, Noah. Have you got any conscience? Think how much the folks here helped you."

"Just want to hog it all. Don't forget, if our village hadn't rented you the pond in the first place, you wouldn't have made a single cent."

"..."

Looking at these villagers with greed written all over their faces, unable to tell right from wrong, my heart went completely cold.

I scanned the crowd and finally spotted Dominic hiding in the back.

"Dominic, you know better than anyone how it went back then. The pond could've been rented for ten thousand, but you cried and said your family was poor, begged me to take pity on you and pay a little more."

Dominic's face clearly showed some struggle. Then, as if he'd made up his mind, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

"Noah, at the end of the day your farm is built on our village's land. You make that much money every year, so you should give something back to the folks here."

"You think I haven't given back enough? You only know I made over three million this year. Do you have any idea what the water-temperature control system for that pond cost? Let me tell you, five million, and I still haven't earned it back."