Chapter 21: New Skill Turns Out to be Engineering

What is information asymmetry?

Information asymmetry is wealth!

On this day, after signing the equity transfer contract at Ian Sopp's law firm, White looked at him and said, "Mr. Li, it's done. Now North Borneo Company belongs to you. I hope it thrives under your management."

As he said this, goodness knows why White felt a hint of schadenfreude in his heart.

How could he think that?

After all, he would be receiving his retirement pension from him.

"That is certain, Mr. White. After the war ends, you are welcome to visit North Borneo," Li Yi'an replied as he signed his name on the contract.

The screen flashed,

[User gains 48% equity of North Borneo Company by utilizing information asymmetry, rewarded with 1000 experience points]

Is that all?

That company is worth millions of pounds!

Even now... it's worth several million!

Why reward such a small amount of experience points? But upon second thought, Li Yi'an immediately understood the reason—North Borneo is still under Japanese occupation, whether it's an asset or a liability is still unknown.

It seems that the road to being a tycoon is still far off!

Opportunities are for those who are prepared.

And to seize opportunities, one must accumulate ammunition, accumulate wealth.

No matter what ambitions one harbors, one must first have enough strength; otherwise, it's all talk.

To become a "tycoon," one must accumulate enough wealth.

Alright, back to being a human courier, it is.

After the space was filled with cars like blocks, Li Yi'an found that there seemed to be room for a few more. With the idea of maximizing the use of space, Li Yi'an naturally wouldn't let any space go to waste.

No new cars? Used cars will do. After all, in the United States, used cars are not much cheaper than new ones.

What is the biggest change brought about by the war?

It's rising prices and scarcity of goods. Many people have to sell their idle goods to maintain their livelihoods. Among these idle goods, the least valuable are cars—because British car owners can only get four gallons of petrol per month, which is not even enough to travel a hundred kilometers.

Limited petrol supply not only turned most car owners' cars into waste but also left many taxi companies idle. And many taxi companies, in order to reduce expenses, chose to sell cars.

But it's just a price drop. Someone has to buy them!

"1938 Cadillac V8, the best luxury car in the world, for only £120!"

"Chrysler 'Airflow,' take it home for £100, can't be taken advantage of..."

...

As soon as he entered the used car dealership, Li Yi'an saw advertisements everywhere. Of course, there were also cars, mostly American cars, after all, before the war, the United States was the world's largest car manufacturer.

Walking up to a Ford car, before he could examine it closely, a salesman with white hair approached.

"Sir, this car is a '36 Ford Model 48, it's a great car..."

As he spoke, he opened the hood and continued, "You see, it has a V8 engine, the engine power..."

While the old man introduced the car's engine, Li Yi'an suddenly saw a light screen.

System prompt:

[You can activate a specialized skill, would you like to activate it?

A specialized skill?

Since there's a new skill, of course, it should be learned.

[You can learn the skill "Automotive Engineer," would you like to learn it?

What?

Automotive engineer? What skill is this?

Moreover, Li Yi'an was quite interested in this automotive engineer skill, so he quickly chose to learn it, and then a large amount of knowledge about automotive mechanical engineering directly poured into his mind.

[Learned skill "Automotive Engineering."

With the new function activated, the Ford Model 48 sedan in front of Li Yi'an seemed to become a gateway to new knowledge. His mind was instantly filled with various detailed knowledge related to automobiles, from complex engine designs to tire wear, from vehicle body structure to throttle control, nothing was omitted, detailed and thorough. From someone who knew nothing about cars, he instantly transformed into a professional automotive engineer, as if with just a moment of thought, he could understand every detail of the car.

Oh my!

I've gone from being an arts student to a science student!

This system is too powerful!

As he transformed into an automotive engineer, Li Yi'an immediately saw the structure of the engine displayed on the light screen as he checked the engine. The three-dimensional structure allowed him to understand the engine's construction intuitively, making it easier for him to conduct inspections.

This system... is quite formidable!

However, Li Yi'an didn't continue the inspection because the Ford Model 48 sedan was like a truck, almost equivalent to the Model T, and precious space couldn't be wasted on transporting it.

When he left the used car dealership, Li Yi'an not only bought several Cadillacs and Chryslers, almost all of them were popular American luxury cars of the time.

In the following days, Li Yi'an lived quite freely. During the day, he strolled around London, and at night, he enjoyed playing with Stana's long legs, while casually counting the profits from Stana's stockings sales during afternoon tea. Although not much, it was still a bit of fun.

Of course, it wasn't all leisurely. London was bombed again, and a bomb even fell on the street where he lived. After running out of the air-raid shelter, looking at the large crater in the middle of the street, the rubble and glass everywhere, Li Yi'an's desire to leave became stronger.

"London is just too dangerous!"

Seeking benefits and avoiding harm is human nature. For Li Yi'an, who harbored ambitions to become a tycoon, he didn't want to experience the power of the Germans' bombs in London.

The next morning, Li Yi'an arrived at the dock on the Thames River early in the morning. Just like last time, he still had to pay the £500 "ticket money," but unlike last time, most of the crew members would take the initiative to greet him. After all, everyone was quite familiar. Although many people were curious about why he was flying to the United States again, no one asked. Many things were tacitly understood. In the eyes of the outside world, the reason why he went to the United States must be because he earned far more money than the expensive "ticket."

The next morning, after a twenty-six-hour transit flight, Li Yi'an once again arrived in New York.

Unlike last time, this time in New York, he already had a place to stay. The company rented a commercial building in the Brooklyn area, which was a red brick factory building. On the other end of the factory building, separated by floors, was his office, where he could see the Brooklyn Bridge through the window.

After arriving at the company, Li Yi'an found that there was no one in the office. Walking quickly to his desk, before sitting on the leather chair, he saw a report on the desk, along with a note with a message from Zhu Yihai.

"Boss, I conducted a market survey, and this report contains the product information you need."

Zhu Yihai's office was next door. Although the company didn't have much business at the moment, he had been consistently collecting various product information.

Glancing at the report, Li Yi'an opened it to read. As soon as he unfolded the report, he realized he hadn't chosen the wrong person. The report contained price and demand data for consumer goods in New York and several neighboring states, some of which were accompanied by newspaper clippings.

There was no wasted space in the report. The summary was succinct and to the point — the market was most stressed about tires and gasoline, as they were necessities for every household. However, the most in-demand consumer item was somewhat surprising.

"The highest demand is... sugar?"