I am a local in North America

Chapter 61 Same School, Different Fates (4000 words, please read on!)
In its efforts to expand into international markets, TikTok is currently spending heavily on advertising.

Unlike other traditional internet companies' advertising, this company spends a portion of its advertising budget on top influencers on other platforms, giving it a "start with a lot of money, and rely on others for content" attitude.

They are attempting to attract a large number of influential online celebrities to join the TikTok platform.

Su Jerry's influence is limited, and his number of fans is relatively small. The main reason why TikTok was willing to sign him is because of his title as the "champion of the latest season of 'Living in the Wild'".

This identity inherently generates buzz and has a certain audience base, making it a potentially worthwhile investment for a platform that is currently expanding.

In fact, TikTok's creator operations department staff held a special meeting to discuss this matter.

Ultimately, they felt that although his "fishing track" was niche, it was unique and hardcore enough to attract the attention of a large number of male users. So, on top of the standard contract, they offered him a two-year exclusive agreement for a full $50.

Seeing that Su Jierui didn't appreciate it, TikTok didn't say anything more. They exchanged a few polite words and ended the communication. Su Jierui was just a small content creator who was added to the consideration at the last minute.

the next morning.

Su Jierui sat at his desk in the room, facing his laptop screen.

TikTok sent an employee specifically responsible for the signing process to communicate with Su Jerry via online video to discuss the details of the contract and the obligations of both parties.

That $12 was certainly not given away for nothing.

After the electronic contract was drafted, it stipulated that Su Jierui needed to post at least 6 high-quality videos each month, 3 of which had to receive at least 10,000 likes. As long as the requirements stipulated in the contract were met and some commercial advertisements were included, the money would be deposited into Su Jierui's account in 12 monthly installments.

During the interview, Su Jierui specifically asked if he could repost his old videos on YouTube, and the answer was yes.

"If that's the case, then that's OK."

Su Jierui nodded at the camera, feeling much more at ease.

Even if he only re-edited the old videos he posted on YouTube a couple of years ago, he was confident he could get all $12.

In the past, to earn more money for his living expenses, almost every video he posted on YouTube was carefully edited and produced. As long as TikTok was willing to give him some traffic and promotion, it was relatively easy for him to get more than 10,000 likes.

After receiving the electronic contract via email.

Su Jierui quickly found a Seattle University alumnus online who was "expert in contract review." The alumnus had very good customer reviews on the trading platform, and the two arranged to meet at a coffee shop near Pike Place Market in Seattle.

The café is filled with the rich aroma of roasted beans, while outside the window, the market is bustling with people.

He brought TikTok and the letter of intent to buy the beaver ranch to the intern lawyer named Quinn Hodgson.

Quinn Hodgson is also a soon-to-be graduate student who has passed the bar exam.

During this holiday, I was interning at a law firm, wearing a slightly oversized suit and a crooked tie. I rushed over during my lunch break to meet Su Jierui in a hurry.

I helped review two contracts for a service fee of only $600, which is more than half the price of hiring a regular lawyer.

At the beaver ranch, Su Jerry just signed a "Letter of Intent to Purchase a House," and he still needs to sign a formal purchase contract to clarify the final price, closing date, payment method, and additional terms, etc.

At that point, we certainly can't think about being frugal anymore; we'll have to hire an experienced and qualified lawyer to examine the matter carefully.

It concerns a gold mine worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and Su Jerry doesn't want the seller to renege on the deal in the future, or find loopholes in the contract and cause a lot of trouble.

Quinn Hodgson took on the two contracts and quickly got to work, starting with the one for TikTok.

After quickly reviewing the contract regarding TikTok, the intern lawyer said to Su Jierui:
"The terms themselves are quite clear. Only the numbers to fill in and the breach of contract clauses require special attention. I think it's just a standard contract, so there shouldn't be any problems. I'll have to wait until I've carefully checked it tonight before I can give you a more detailed answer."

American lawyers earn high salaries; someone like Su Jerry, who works with a platform, can earn $12 a year, but in Quinn Hodgson's view, that's just so-so.

If he works a little harder in the future, he will also have the opportunity to earn this amount.

In the law firm where he interned, it wasn't uncommon for lawyers to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and some senior partners were even more extravagant, reportedly receiving millions of dollars in bonuses annually.

However, when he picked up the second letter of intent to buy the beaver ranch and saw the figure of "$350 million", he visibly paused.

He looked down at the contract, then at Su Jierui, then back at the contract, then back at Su Jierui...

Finally, Quinn Hodgson put down the contract, leaned forward slightly, lowered his voice, and said in surprise:

"You're not like those characters in the movies, some kind of hidden Asian tycoon's descendant? The kind who buys the whole hotel and fires the manager just because the hotel manager belittled you a few times?"

“When we were chatting, you mentioned that you were also studying in Seattle for college, and we seemed to be around the same age. Why am I still struggling to pay rent, while you've already been able to buy such a large ranch?”

"To be honest, could you teach me how to quit my job at a law firm and work for you right away, like that fat guy in 'The Wolf of Wall Street'?"

When he said this, it was half a joke and half a serious probing, his face full of indignation at the "different fates of students from the same school".

Having read "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "Crazy Rich Asians," Su Jerry understands what Quinn Hodgson meant.

The fat supporting character in "The Wolf of Wall Street" follows Leonardo DiCaprio's character to sell stocks and quickly makes a fortune.

Hearing this, Su Jierui was both amused and exasperated. He picked up his coffee, took a sip, and shook his head, saying:

"It was just good luck that you made a fortune unexpectedly. This kind of opportunity probably won't come again. If you quit your job and come with me, you'll only be able to pick up cow dung and trim cow hooves on my ranch. I can't hold you back from your career. You'll have a better chance of making money as a lawyer."

Quinn Hodgson, after hearing this, was filled with envy and resentment, and pressed for an answer:

"You mean you earned all this money yourself?"

Speaking of making quick money… I suddenly thought of a few extremely lucrative, but unethical, industries. A flicker of alarm crossed Quinn Hodgson's eyes, his expression immediately changed, and he raised his hands in a "stop" gesture.

"No need to answer! I'm just an intern lawyer, I don't know who you are, and I don't want to know anything about you. I still owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans, and I don't want to get into any trouble!"

"..."

Seeing his serious tone, she tensed up and straightened her back.

Su Jierui guessed something, thinking he'd watched too much Breaking Bad and had an overactive imagination, so he chuckled and replied cheerfully:
"Don't worry, if you follow my social media accounts, you'll soon find out how I earned this money; it's absolutely clean."

Getting back to the main topic, Su Jerry pointed to the ranch intent contract with his finger:
"Look at this contract, there shouldn't be any problems, right? About an hour ago, the real estate agent just asked me to come and sign the formal contract tomorrow. I'd like to have a lawyer from your firm accompany me. How much would that cost?"

Upon hearing about the new business opportunity, Quinn Hodgson immediately perked up. After quickly reviewing the letter of intent in his hand, he replied:
“I have reviewed many such contracts, and the framework should be a standard version. I will need to wait until I get home from get off work tonight to review them before I can give you an accurate answer.”

"As for hiring a formal lawyer to accompany you to sign the contract, handling an asset transaction contract of this size, it will probably cost around $2000."

"Because it's a ranch rather than real estate, the procedures are a bit more complicated, and there are more factors to consider. We'll help with a simple background check. This is just the most basic screening. If you want analysis of soil quality, water pollution, etc., those will incur additional charges..."

Su Jierui thought to himself that sending out an environmental scan would be like a "walking quality inspection report," more reliable than any sampling inspection.

If that's the case, why waste money?
He decisively waved his hand and politely declined, saying:
"Just keep an eye on the contract for me, and make sure there are no problems with it. I've already inspected the beaver ranch in person. Apart from timber, it doesn't have any other assets, so it should be relatively simple."

Quinn Hodgson nodded:
"Then $2000 should be enough. Of course, if you hire an intern like me, it would only cost around $1000..."

He was trying to secure a case for himself so that he wouldn't be invisible in the law firm due to a lack of connections.

Their law firm recruited four interns at the same time, making it clear that only one would be retained in the end. Given his recent marginalization and spending all his time in the storeroom organizing documents, Quinn Hodgson felt that the day he would be packing his bags and leaving was not far off.

As a graduate student himself, Su Jierui was well aware that a newbie like him, fresh out of school, certainly didn't have as much experience as those seasoned veterans who had worked for many years.

So he simply ignored intern Quinn Hodgson's self-promotion and added:

"This transaction involves a lot of money, so please help me find a good, experienced lawyer. My family will also help inquire. If you can offer a discount, that would be even better."

A budget of $2000 is still within Su Jerry's acceptable range.

Issues such as whether land taxes have been paid, whether there are any lawsuits or mortgages, etc., all need to be investigated in advance by lawyers and real estate agents.

Including the containers from the Aleutian Islands, Su Jerry has already spent several thousand dollars on legal fees. No wonder users from other countries often joke on YouTube that it's no wonder the US has such a high GDP, with the legal services industry accounting for hundreds of billions of dollars.

……

It's about two o'clock in the afternoon.

The intermittent snowflakes that had been falling in the afternoon finally stopped, and some sunlight even pierced through the clouds.

Su Jerry drove his old Mustang, taking his sister Arou straight to Anna Cortes Port. Su's father had just called to say that the Fuyou and the Moonfish would be returning in the evening.

The Port of Anacortes is located about 90 miles north of Seattle. The city where the port is located is called Anacortes, and its total population is only about 15000.

Looking at these smaller cities makes it clear why Seattle, with a total population of only about 75, is considered a metropolis.

The car drove along the road leading to the coastline, with dense forests on one side and the azure sea occasionally visible on the other.

Driving towards the port of Anacortes, we stopped at a self-service gas station. While operating the gas pump, Su Jerry said to Arou, who was listening to music in the car:

"If we have money in the future, let's renovate that old pier by the sea. It's too much trouble for Mom and Dad to go back and forth to save on pier fees. They might as well come to my place and rest there occasionally. There are also fishing boats at the port near the beaver ranch, so we can sell our catch there."

Before Ah-rou went to university, she would help her parents compile the family's tax returns every year, so she knew exactly how much the family had to spend on the "tax evasion" section.

After listening to Su Jierui's words, she took off her headphones and agreed:

“We have three boats now, and the crab fishing boat is still docked at the pier most of the year. If your old pier at your ranch could still be used, we could save at least forty or fifty thousand dollars.”

Su Jierui nodded in satisfaction, put the fuel nozzle back in its place, closed the fuel tank cap, and said with a smile:
“Great, this is another good reason to convince Mom and Dad. Forty or fifty thousand dollars a year, ten years is forty or fifty thousand dollars. Over time, it’s like getting a discount on the purchase price of the beaver ranch.”

"However, if someone withdraws from the Bass Bass Fishing Tournament, I would like to participate instead."

"While my parents are still away, I'm going to Florida to lay low for a while. By the time I get home, they should have processed what happened..."

Arou looked down and scrolled through her phone's photo album, saying:

"Brother, what are you afraid of? Now Grandpa and Grandma are here to speak up for you. I made some minor revisions last night and this morning. What do you think of the design draft for this villa? Do you think Grandpa and Grandma will like it?"

As she spoke, she held the phone screen up to her brother's face.

Su Jierui took the phone, looked at it carefully for a few moments, and praised it:

"It's very beautiful and unique. The red bricks and stones for the exterior walls were sourced from Beaver Ranch, which should have saved us a lot of money."

Arou said with a smile:
"Yes, you can also look for other furniture and building materials in the second-hand market."

“I’ve checked. Building a house like this in Seattle would cost at least five or six hundred thousand dollars, not even counting the land. The main problem is the high cost of labor and materials. Hiring a worker would cost two or three hundred dollars a day.”

"If Grandpa and Grandma don't like it, or think it's too expensive, then I'll design a heavy-duty wooden house. If you scroll down, the interior of this kind of house doesn't need to be too luxurious, and some timber can be directly cut from the beaver ranch. It's also designed to last about 100 years..."

……

(End of this chapter)