Close Combat Mage

Chapter 319 - Explosion of Wealth Overnight Part 2

Finally, after an entire month had passed and Suo Jia had finally completed the scarlet level, he also reached his objective—Tide City. It was an exceptionally grand city that sat next to a lake.

The reason he’d chosen Tide City as his destination was because all the materials he’d obtained from the adventurers stated that this place was the largest city in the first checkpoint. The Golden Raccoon Dog furs were welcomed so much here, more so than one could ever imagine.

After pulling out a detailed map of Tide City, Suo Jia quickly found the largest furs shop in the city. He haggled over the price for a very long time and in the end…Suo Jia wasn’t able to negotiate a single cent. It was only now that Suo Jia finally realized: on the Greater Trade Routes, merchants couldn’t haggle prices during business transactions.

It might seem strange, but that was actually part of the rules here. The merchants here all believed that if one haggled, that would mean the prices they bid were illegitimate and overstated. That’s why…for the sake of their reputations, merchants would never perform any business like that, nor would they ever bargain. Prices were simply set.

Of course, although one couldn’t bargain, merchants also looked at the customer’s menu. Nameless people like Suo Jia definitely couldn’t get very high prices. If it were a more famous merchant, they naturally wouldn’t dare to recklessly quote a price.

Suo Jia tightly knit his brows together. Although the opposite party’s offer was already the market price of 100, and they hadn’t been reckless about quoting it, Suo Jia had stockpiled a great amount of goods. If they were just sold like that, it would seem like a such a waste.

These Golden Raccoon Dog furs were the most luxurious consumer goods here. Although they were half a ping in size, the truly useful parts were the two pieces the size of one’s palm: the sides of the Golden Raccoon Dog’s flank.

Golden Raccoon Dog furs definitely represented any person’s status and identity. Normal people often didn’t even get the chance to see it, let alone wear it.

Right now, Suo Jia was holding a large amount of furs. Naturally, he wanted more favorable offers. However, the other party’s offer was something that Suo Jia couldn’t accept. Even if he sold the furs piece by piece, it would be with this price. Now he was selling so many, how could he only accept 100 per piece?

Seeing Suo Jia’s dissatisfied expression, the furs manager felt great regret for naming such a low price. If he’d known there were so many of these furs earlier, he definitely wouldn’t have offered something so low. But now that the price had already been named, regretting is was useless.

Suo Jia saw the store manager’s expression, and finally realized something. After a bit, he firmly stated, “How about this, Boss. I agree to your price, 100 per piece is fine. However…I have a condition!”

“Condition? What is the condition, tell me quickly!” The store boss urged after hearing that the situation could be remedied.

Suo Jia smiled and whispered into the store manager’s ear, “I can sell you 6000 furs for the price of 100 per fur, but…you must help me gather 1000 bags of Xiangshui rice!”

The furs store manage couldn’t help but furrow his brows at this. Although Xiangshui rice wasn’t really expensive, 1000 bags would end up being a pretty high price too.

The store manager took out a calculating machine and quickly added it up. After a while, he bitterly smiled as he discovered that with the addition of 1000 bags of Xiangshui rice, the price of 6000 furs was already nearing the baseline of his money. There was no longer much difference in profits between buying them and not buying them.

Suo Jia soon realized from the store manager’s expression that the guy had definitely been mistaken. Suo Jia had only meant to request the store manager to help him collect the rice; Suo Jia would be the one actually spending money. However, the store manager clearly thought that he needed to hand over money for it too.

However, what excited Suo Jia was that judging from the store manager’s expression, he seemed to be able to accept even if he was paying. It seemed that it just meant earning a bit less.

Suo Jia gave his acting skills a spin and said firmly, “Boss, this is the first time we’re doing business together, so I can’t let you pay. I know that you can’t earn much with this kind of price. We can do this instead…”

Suo Jia paused a bit before continuing, “I’ll sell the 6000 furs to you for 100 per fur, and you help me get 1000 bags of Xiangshui rice. In addition to this, I’ll send you another 364 furs to you for free. What do you think?”

The store manager’s expression drastically changed. If he was getting 364 furs for free, in addition to the 6000 in profits, he would be earning a decent amount, not too much or little. Business was difficult; if one could earn just the slightest bit more, who would be willing to reject the offer? This past year…living hadn’t been easy!

The store manager’s sorrowful expression made Suo Jia add, “Boss, I know that you’ll be losing a bit this time, but don’t worry. I’m determined to make a living here. We’ll be doing business together for a long time in the future. I’ll owe you this time, and I can make up for it next time. What do you think?”

Suo Jia’s temptation finally moved the store manager’s heart. He resolutely nodded and said, “Alright. Just as you say, this is our first time doing business together, so it’s fine if I earn a bit less this time. I agree to your condition!”

During the next few days, the store manager quickly collected 1000 bags of Xiangshui rice, and finished his business with Suo Jia. Suo Jia excitedly took the 600,000 Trade Route coins, practically unable to believe that it was all real. He’d not only been able to sell the furs for a price of 100, but more importantly, Suo Jia didn’t have to spend any money at all to fulfill his deal with the village chief—1000 bags of Xiangshui rice was enough for 400 people to eat for a year. After all…hunters still had meat as their main diet.

After the transaction was completed, Suo Jia wasn’t in any rush to leave. Instead, he took the 700,000 Trade Route coins and rushed to the bank in Tide City. There, he obtained a Trade Route status card. This kind of card was one that only merchants that had entered the Greater Trade Routes had the qualifications to obtain. Moreover, in order to ensure prestige, one had to have at least 500,000 Trade Route coins to apply for it.

After receiving the status card, Suo Jia rushed straight to Tide City’s Adventurer Union. He consigned the 100 toy automatons he’d made on the way for sale there. It wasn’t just the magic automatons, but the normal four colored potions as well. These potions were no longer much use to the adventurers on the Greater Trade Routes. After all…these potions weren’t refined, and they replenished too little energy. Without any practical use, they only attracted the residents on the Greater Trade Routes.

The Adventurer Union was actually opened specifically for the adventurer occupation. Adventurers, thieves, and even mercenaries all needed a means to carry out a transaction for obtaining goods from various channels. This was the only way the items could be exchanged for money, or use the money to buy items they needed. It was the only communication link between the adventurer occupation and the local residents on the Greater Trade Routes.

The rules for consigning a sale first required one to buy one’s own vendor’s booth. One had to pay a usage fee of 100 Trade Route coins for each vendor’s booth every day. Each vendor’s booth had one salesperson attached, without requiring an extra payment.

Once hundreds of magic automatons were given to the salesperson, Suo Jia gave a detailed warning about them. Most things didn’t need to be said, but these toy magic automatons’ functions and special features needed to be clearly explained. Otherwise, if the other party didn’t understand how to use them, how would they be willing to spend money to buy them?

After obtaining a status card, there was no longer any need to use physical money for business transactions between Suo Jia and other merchants. The cards could simply be combined and the money could be directly transferred. It was convenient and simple. Moreover…the money earned from the goods sold in the Commerce Union would be automatically transferred to the card. In other words, the status card was the merchant’s mark!

During the following week, Suo Jia visited various parts of Tide City. Suo Jia wasn’t necessarily just idly strolling around, but rather carefully surveying the market. An in-depth inspection was necessary to discover any hidden business opportunities. Moreover…one had to personally gather materials to obtain the most trustworthy information.

A week later, Suo Jia finally gathered enough information. However, just as he was prepared to bring the Xiangshui rice and rush back to Enchanting Village, a difficult issue that Suo Jia had never considered appeared before him.