Fisherman

Alisha hesitated for a while but agreed eventually. If it was any other time, she would have carefully calculated the pros and cons of dating John but her mind was currently messed up so she decided on a gut feeling. According to her gut feeling, John was a considerate guy who cared about a girl's feelings.

Although she rationalized her decision using flowery language like 'gut feeling', what she was actually doing was to find her self-worth. She badly needed some validation to feel good about herself and regain some confidence. It didn't matter who, let alone John, she would have told yes to any boy who shows even a tiny bit of interest in her. Of course, the timing was important, one must give credit to John for his smart timing.

"OK, why don't we celebrate our first day by going out to the shopping mall tomorrow? We can eat, watch a movie and play bowling."

Alisha nodded with a smile. She finally felt a little secure in her heart when another person valued her presence. She was quite impressed by John for saying everything she wanted to hear.

The next day was Sunday, Alisha and John had a lot of fun in the shopping mall. John proactively spent money on everything they did even after Alisha insisted to pay. Finally, when they were walking back to their home, Alisha said casually" Sorry John, yesterday I was muddleheaded and couldn't think properly. You are a nice guy but you are not my type. I am really sorry let's break up."

John was surprised and asked in shock, he couldn't find words to say and could only ask, " Why?"

Alisha felt a little guilty but didn't change her decision." See John, I don't know how to sugarcoat things, let me tell you directly. Our family background doesn't match. We are completely from two different worlds. I want a dependable guy, not a beggar. Take this ATM card, the pin is written on the back. I don't know how much there is inside but I think it's more than 10 times the amount you have spent today. I can only do this much to you. Thank you for today, I had fun. I don't want to say things like let's be friends from now on because you are not worthy of my friendship. So, goodbye."

Alisha simply placed the ATM card on John's palm and departed without waiting for his reply, a car came just in time to pick her up. Before John could organize his words, she already left, leaving him only car dust to eat.

John's 'disappointed' expression slowly changed into indifference. "Whatever"

It was not the first time that john used a girl to make easy money. He considered himself a 'fisherman'. He strategically catches his prey when they least expect by showing a little kindness. Then he would invest heavily in her to make her feel guilty. Finally, he would get back his investment with ten times profit.

Although it seemed easy, it was not easy for a normal guy to pull it off. One needs to have three things. One is a good understanding of female psychology that was saying and doing the right things at the right time. The second is the ability to take a risk: Alisha would have not been given a single penny if she didn't feel guilty if John didn't invest. And lastly, let go of any sense of self-respect or pride. Any guy could somehow catch up with the first two but the last one was the unique selling point of John.

He had no values, no bottom-line and he was willing to give up every bit of self-respect as long as he could make money.

He was an orphan all his life with no one to teach him what to say or how to behave. He learned everything by himself through trial and error, for example, he picked up business from a young age to survive and one thing he firmly believed from his experience was - there was no difference between commodity and people if you set aside emotions.

He suffered a lot having emotions like pride and self-respect.

With no capital in hand, all he had was his emotions. He started manipulating his emotions to make money. It didn't matter how cheap the job was or how abusive the people were, all he had to do was tune down everything inside his mind and make money. Pride? Self-respect? Ego? They couldn't fill his hunger. He killed everything inside him a long time ago and his only goal was to become rich. When he becomes rich, he could afford stuff like self-respect, love, and friendship.

Over the years, he earned money using various unorthodox methods. Being a 'Fisherman' was only one such method but he had one principle that always kept him out of trouble. He would not do anything illegal or do anything that puts his life in danger. First of all, he couldn't afford a lawyer, and secondly, he didn't have any background to get out of the mess if he involved himself in such things. Hence, despite his neediness, he didn't take any wrong route.

Yes, no doubt that the road was tough.

Using his own money, he entered a prestigious high school. Although he was not a topper, his grades were always above average. If he didn't invest most of his time in various businesses, he would have easily ranked in the top 3 without any doubt. For him, more than grades, knowledge, and platform were important. With good knowledge, his thinking would broaden and won't be limited to stereotypical thinking. He would also get more tools in his arsenal by reading psychology, new technologies, marketing, and so on. Also, platforms like high school provided him opportunities to make money every day. For example, he considered Richard as his 'benefactor'.

"Have to look for another fish soon. Hehe, as long that fool Richard exists in the school, I can catch as many fishes as I want." John's eyes twinkled in anticipation.

John leisurely walked back to his home after putting away the ATM.

Before moving to the high school he changed his residence from a slum to a relatively good neighborhood to increase his chances of living. In the slum, he had to be on his toes all the time to protect his life as there was no guarantee that somebody would not barge in and take his pitiful life. It was not overthinking as it was quite common in a slum to be killed for a mere 100 Rupees.

Not anymore. He was quite satisfied with his new residence despite its rent.

On his way, he thought of his current situation. He had saved around Rs5 Lakhs using various methods except selling himself to a sugar mommy. He liked the idea of sugar mommy as he didn't care too much about his 'purity' but he didn't have striking features that could attract a rich lady. If a blind and rich lady desired him without having intentions to sell him to a flesh trading market then John was happy to sign the deal right away.

But he doubted any such blind and rich lady existed.

With 5 lakh as capital, he could do many things but John was patient. He was looking for the right opportunity to make it big. Despite his age (18), John knew how to handle short-term gratification. When it comes to looks or background he was no match for anyone but when it comes to managing his emotions, there was no one more experienced at his age, all thanks to his harsh past experiences. His reason was simple and effective: can't afford it. Let it be gambling, drinking, love, porn, procrastination, he couldn't afford anything.

Without his notice, he had filtered all the vices of men and solely focused on becoming rich.

The only emotion he nurtured from a young age was to become rich. Initially, it started as a seed but years of careful nurturing turned the seed into a towering tree. Even if he want to change himself he couldn't.

According to the books he studied from a young age, to become rich, one had to first identify their inner potential and passion and then invest time and money to nurture it. Eventually, when the passion meets some lucky opportunity, money would not be a problem. For example, a hard-working and passionate author might encounter a great editor or a publisher one day.

But John didn't like the traditional route as he didn't want to leave himself at the mercy of luck. He was aware that his only talent was his keen business acumen, so every day without fail he was sharpening his skill by doing things like 'fishing' and, instead of waiting for a lucky encounter, he actively sought various opportunities to make money. Thanks to his hard work, no, smart work, he was able to able accumulate 5 lakh. It was not a secret that initial capital decides the limit of taking a risk.

Just when he was thinking of different ways to use his money, a notification appeared on his phone.

[Gentleman's system has chosen you as a new host. Please select yes, if you agree]

[Yes ] or [No]