Chapter 61

Not only was his dad are taken aback, even his mom, who had remained silent throughout their conversation, also wore a strange expression as she look at Edward.

Is spending more money better than wasting time?

They don't even have money; how can they spend more? And even if they did have it, they'd rather invest more time than money.

Edward, seeing their expressions, couldn't help but sigh, knowing what they were thinking, and even he himself couldn't believe it when he just said.

Was he truly the stingy person he is? Or was he just realizing the value of time... or perhaps he was overvaluing it?

Before his travel back through time, he always found it odd when wealthy people hired maids, guards, and servants to handle their tasks, thinking, "Isn't that a waste of money? Wouldn't they save more if they did it themselves?"

But now that he thinks about it, he feels like he understands them a bit more—kind of like why he hired Patricia back then.

At that time, he felt that he had experienced college life enough in the previous time-space and considered schoolwork to be meaningless and instead of dedicating time to it, he preferred to do something much more productive—like making money.

Later, he also hired her as an assistant because he felt that it was a waste of time to deal with various miscellaneous tasks when others could handle it for him, allowing him to generate money more efficiently.

In a way, time was indeed more valuable than money—at least for him and for some individuals.

After all, for most people, money was everything; hence, time was often overlooked. If lifespans could be sold for money, most would probably sell theirs.

For him, at least for now... he felt that instead of wasting time doing everything on his own, it was more productive to use money to purchase others' time.

Does it make sense?

Edward wasn't entirely certain, but he felt that the logic behind why those rich individuals would willingly spend their money to hire people was to save time and simplify their lives.

"Dad, it's like this; do you know how much I made from YouTube in the past two months?"

"Huh? Didn't you say you earned more than ten thousand?" His dad said casually, though a proud smile played on his face.

"That was for the previous month of July, and it's ₱25,0000 to be exact," Edward sighed, realizing he should've shared this sooner to avoid surprising them.

At that time, he was really worried they might be shocked, given their monthly income combined wasn't even a fourth of what he made.

If they were to find out, he feared that they might react as if he had robbed a bank.

The difference in their earnings was quite significant, making him anxious about their potential reaction.

However, now that a whole month has passed since and they've become accustomed to the concept of online earnings, he believes it's the time to share it with them... Well, it's not that it wasn't fine to tell them before, but at least he was more assured they would find it more acceptable.

"₱25,000?!"

His mother exclaimed and astonished looked at him, as her monthly income was just 14,000, and his father, who was sitting next to his mom, was also astounded, as he barely earned more than 17,000 each month... The fact that he could earn more than them greatly shocked them.

"T-that's a lot. Have you-"

"No, mom, I didn't rob a bank; it's real. It's what I've earned on YouTube," Edward sighed, then continued, "and in the month of August, it's even higher."

"..."

Silence enveloped the entire table, the previous ₱25,000 already dumbfounded them but the moment they heard the words 'higher', they didn't even know how to react anymore.

"How much higher?" Edward's father was the first to recover and went to ask.

"Well, it's like this: although the total earning from July is fixed at 250, they can still generate views, and then added up to the views from the month of August... the total views that my videos generated in the month of August were around 800k plus the sponsorship fees..."

Edward stopped his mumbling as he realized his parents were struggling to calculate, so he directly told them the total figure.

"I earned about a total of ₱54,000."

"..."

Seeing his parents' stunned expressions, Edward let out a sigh. He had reacted the same way when he realized how easily he had earned such an amount of money in such a short period of time.

At that time, he even asked questions about life, and a wave of heaviness washed over him.

Was making money truly this simple?

Is this how rich people thinks?

After working diligently throughout his life, but still unable to afford a house or a car, he couldn't help but feel that the money he had worked so hard to earn seemed to come easily to others.

"Well, that's basically it, you know?"

"..."

"Mom, dad?"

"Cough, cough, yes, son, please continue."

"Yeah, that's basically how much I earned. That's why I'm considering buying a store earlier, which would ultimately save more time. Then we could use the saved time to buy another store. What do you think?"

"That..." His dad hesitated, but seeing the firm looks on his face and thinking about how much money he had earned, he finally sighed, "Anyway, its your money, so you can do whatever you want on it."

"Thanks, dad." Edward smiles and then turns to his mom, who is silent. "What do you think, mom?"

"I.. that's fine to me too." Hi mom looked pained, but in the end, she finally sighed defeatedly.

"Very well, how about we talk about the procedure of paying dad?"

"Good, how are you going to pay?"

"I'm going to direct the money in your bank account into my AdSense account and then put money on it."

"That's good. How about the tax?"

"You don't have to worry about that, dad; I don't have to pay anything until next year. So basically, since I'll transfer the money to you, it's you, dad, who are going to pay tax."

"That. Won't they feel suspicious when they see my income statement?"

"It's okay; I can show them the source of the money if they ever feel the need to investigate."

"Oh, that's fine.. How about the naming rights of the store?"

"You temporarily put it under your name, dad; after all, I'm a minor now; you can transfer it to me once I'm 18."

"I see.."

After recovering from the initial shock, Edward's parents eagerly discussed the specifics of buying the store.

Time passed.

After a pleasant conversation with his parents, Edward set off for his morning run and concluded it around eight before heading to the Internet cafe.

Upon entering, he found a few members of the group already present—some engrossed in games, while others watched them from behind.

Edward simply greeted them and engaged in small talk while waiting for the rest to arrive.

"You just finished your morning run?" Angela asked, noting his slightly sweaty appearance.

"Yeah!" Edward chuckled, wiping his forehead with a towel. "I originally wanted to shower before coming, but suddenly felt lazy to walk back home and then went back. Why, do I smell bad?"

"No, not at all... It's kind of a bit weird.. I even felt you smell good."

"Smells good?"

"Yeah, it's weird. What perfume are you using?"

"You mean my scent? It's not perfume. it's a natural scent, my pheromone."

"..."

"Pff! your face just now is funny!"

"T-that, don't tease me like that, okay!?"

"I'm not teasing you, though. People who engage in regular exercise produce sweat that contains more pheromones than regular others. It's not a tease—it's a scientifically backed fact."

"... is that so?"

Edward went to chat with Angela while they waited for everyone to gather. Once they were all ready, they rented PCs and started editing the clips they had shot, fine-tuning the footage for a polished final product.

Four hours later, after meticulously piecing everything together and adjusting every detail just right, Edward played the skits several times and couldn't help but let out a satisfied smile upon seeing the final result.

The difference in today's skit compared to their first was visible—whether it was the acting, cinematography, editing, soundtracks, or transitions, everything had improved significantly, marking a substantial leap from their first attempts.

In just a month, such significant progress can achieve mainly because of Edward's investment in acquiring a complete set of filming equipment.

Many aspiring content creators knew the importance of having the right tools, often times it was the main factor that contribute to their success.

After all, quality was the standard in the market, and even though there were some cases where low-quality videos went viral, such cases were rare.

In a general sense, individuals leaned towards videos with superior quality, encompassing better sound, picture, or overall presentation, rather than those of lower quality.