Rebirth of the Richest Man from Blind Boxes
Ryan felt he was fast becoming the kind of person he most detested, much like his father. Big, overweight, and drinking daily to the point his neck was thick and red, prone to violent outbursts where he’d lash out at anyone around.
They generally favored firearms, drove wild pickup trucks or small vans, and their favorite pastime, besides drinking, was to take a shotgun into the woods alone and hunt, only to then brag to their children about their kills, before hacking off the animals’ heads to mount on the walls as trophies.
Ryan grew up in such an environment. He didn’t like his father and would get beaten for it. So Ryan himself was raised through beatings, which is why he particularly hated men like his father, vowing that if he ever had children, he would never treat them that way.
There were many like his father, forming a group that some self-important individuals had given a nickname Ryan always found fitting: rednecks.
Ryan loathed rednecks like his father and desperately tried to avoid becoming one himself. Yet, to his dismay, in his middle age, he found himself turning into the very man he despised.
When Ryan's father had nothing to do, no work to occupy him, and no alcohol to drink, he would regale Ryan with tales of his past.
Ryan's father would say he was a senior mechanic at Ford, possessed of a good trade, earning a salary of $2,000 a month.
In the 1980s, $2,000 was a considerable sum. So, with his monthly wages, Ryan's father could afford to buy a large house, acquire quite a bit of land, and still take his family on three-month vacations abroad each year, enjoying elegant holidays by the sea.
Ryan himself vividly remembered that period of his childhood, considering it the happiest time. Back then, his father’s neck wasn’t red, he didn’t drink much, and he always tried to keep himself clean and tidy. The only trouble was his frequent entanglement with other women, which led to his mother crying often and arguing with his father.
However, his mother never threatened divorce, as her entire life depended on his father's salary. If she left him, she could no longer afford that comfortable middle-class lifestyle.
But as time crept into the 1990s, things changed. Ford cars faced intense competition from Japanese automakers, and their sales plummeted.
Concurrently, Ford began extensively adopting more advanced automated machinery. Consequently, workers like Ryan's father, who lacked higher education but possessed practical skills honed on the factory floor, became among the first to be let go. They were discharged by the company in a rather haphazard manner, with a meager severance package.
After a year or two, the severance pay was all spent. Ryan’s family fell into hardship, living in extreme poverty, to the point where Ryan’s mother had to go out and work. It was then that Ryan's father transformed into the loathsome figure he detested.
So, whenever Ryan heard his father boast about his past capabilities, he would instinctively feel disdain. He'd inwardly criticize his father, thinking that even after being laid off, his father still had his strength and could have found work instead of just drinking at home. What kind of man was he? What kind of father? He was simply scum!
Thus, Ryan vowed he would never become a man like his father. He also learned from his father's lack of education and reliance on brute strength. So, he studied diligently, later choosing the highly popular field of computer programming, and subsequently found a job, earning a monthly salary of $5,000. Ryan considered himself to be living a good life.
A monthly salary of $5,000 was considered middle-class. Coupled with the fact that Ryan wasn’t particularly unattractive, he soon found a beautiful girlfriend. They dated, got married, had children, and began living the idyllic family life Ryan had dreamed of.
Then, Ryan was laid off.
Although Ryan majored in computer programming, his aptitude was rather poor. He hadn't gotten into a good university, only a community college with a less than stellar diploma.
What was worse, Ryan had studied assembly language in college. While this was the most popular computer language in the eighties and nineties, with the advancements in computer hardware, these languages could no longer keep pace with the demands. More advanced and complex languages like Java and C++ gradually replaced assembly language, and companies began to use these third-generation high-level languages to write their programs.
Naturally, Ryan, who only knew assembly language, became a target for optimization. At 32, with a wife, a six-year-old son, and burdened by mortgage and car payments, Ryan was unceremoniously “graduated” from the company.
Ryan suddenly realized he had fallen into the exact same predicament as his father. His previously comfortable life was shattered in an instant. The meager money in his hands was no longer enough to cover expenses, and he was racking his brain to manage the substantial monthly mortgage and car payments, eventually resorting to scraping together a little money from his father to prevent his house from being repossessed by the bank.
Initially, Ryan was confident he wouldn’t end up like his father because he would work hard to find a job.
But then Ryan discovered that his father hadn’t been unwilling to find work; he genuinely couldn’t find any.
Besides assembly language, Ryan had no other skills. He couldn't farm, repair houses, or do any carpentry or construction work. So, all these jobs were out of his reach.
Of course, there were jobs like street sweeping or sewer cleaning that required no special skills, but Ryan considered himself educated, a university graduate at that. How could he possibly accept doing such work?
So, for a full year, Ryan found himself transformed from a comfortable middle-class individual into the exact same detestable figure as his father. Unable to do anything, unable to find any work, he spent his days cursing the heavens and lamenting the unfairness of fate.
Ryan finally understood his father completely. He realized that if life continued this way, he too would be unable to bear the torment of existence, his passion would be extinguished, and he would vent everything on cheap liquor, becoming just like his father, with a red neck and a mouth full of vulgarities – a redneck.
Just as Ryan was sinking into despair about his future, he saw a job advertisement next to the Walmart in his hometown.
It was for a courier delivery driver. Ryan found the requirements listed on the advertisement rather peculiar.
The ad stated they were looking for workers over 30 years old, with children to support, a driver's license, and their own vehicle (preferably a pickup truck or van). They needed individuals familiar with local roads and neighborhoods, with good social connections and who weren't afraid of hard work.
Finally, it noted that the job offered a base salary of $2,000, plus commission and overtime pay.
These requirements were indeed strange. Normal job postings usually sought outstanding individuals with high academic qualifications, work experience, and social engagement.
Or they looked for young, strong individuals without family burdens, possessing one or two practical skills.
Who would advertise specifically for people over 30? It completely went against normal recruitment needs.
However, these requirements perfectly matched Ryan's situation. The only discrepancy was that Ryan owned an SUV, not the preferred pickup truck.
But that didn't matter. Without hesitation, Ryan approached his father and proposed to exchange the usage rights of his SUV for the usage rights of his father's beat-up old pickup truck.
Ryan's father was very surprised by this request. Exchanging an expensive new car for an old, worn-out one seemed like a peculiar deal.
But when he learned it was for a job requirement, he agreed without a second thought, stating he barely needed the truck anyway, as he could barely afford the gas. He suggested parking both vehicles at his son's place, and he'd drive them if he ever needed to.
For the first time in a long while, Ryan thanked his father. Then, driving the battered pickup truck, he arrived at the advertised hiring location. A middle-aged white man, with a neck as red as his father's, greeted him.
"I like this pickup. It's covered in the badges of manhood!" the middle-aged man exclaimed upon seeing Ryan's truck. This made Ryan even more grateful to his father, as he had already made a good impression on his superior.
Next, Ryan handed over his resume and launched into a detailed, showy introduction of his education, abilities, and various achievements.
To his surprise, the supervisor had no intention of listening to his rambling. He simply put the resume aside and asked directly, "How old are you?"
"Thirty-four!"
"Do you have children?"
"A son and a daughter. The boy is six this year, and the girl is four!" Ryan replied truthfully.
"And do you think a base salary of $2,000 is enough to cover your living expenses?"
"It will be difficult, but my wife is very resourceful. She can cook potatoes deliciously. And my father is also a good man; he often hunts game with his shotgun and brings it to our home. I believe with careful planning, $2,000 will be sufficient for our family's livelihood!" Ryan said cautiously.
"Hahahaha!" The supervisor burst out laughing. Looking at Ryan’s worried face, he continued, "Excellent. I declare you hired. We at Eastern Amazon need talent like you!"