Chapter 132: Meat
Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Meat
"Yes, sir~"
The waiter’s face was all smiles. "Whether it’s cured meat or fresh meat, we’ll buy it... in large quantities!"
Hearing this, Zhu Ge was quite intrigued.
He looked at the restaurant before him; it was completely packed.
People drinking tea, selling vegetables, waiting for others, eating...
All sorts of people crowded the place.
"But aren’t there tons of Demon Beasts outside the city?" Zhu Ge was a little taken aback.
"There are!" The waiter’s beaming face revealed a hint of bitterness. "But those Demon Beasts are a rare commodity. The Soldiers love to eat Demon Beast Flesh."
With just that one sentence, Zhu Ge understood.
The Soldiers outside, with their surging Blood Qi, were clearly practitioners of the Military Dao.
As a branch of the Martial Dao, the Military Dao required an incredible amount of food.
Zhu Ge himself had to eat dozens of pounds of meat every day. How much would the thousands upon thousands of Soldiers there need to eat?
"Here at Tongfu Restaurant, we have a few dishes that can only be made with the flesh of Demon Beasts," the waiter sighed.
"With the war on, many people are focused on hoarding grain at home, which makes it even harder for us to buy meat."
"But then again, many other people figure they’ve saved money their whole life and it would be a waste if they died, so they’re all coming out to spend it."
"All in all, what with one thing and another, we’re buying less and less but selling more and more. We’re just desperate for meat!"
The waiter was complaining to Zhu Ge, but in reality, he was also just taking the opportunity to slack off.
However, someone wasn’t happy about it.
"Xiao Zhuozi! Get back to waiting tables! Stop slacking off!"
A woman’s sharp cry came from inside the restaurant.
Zhu Ge looked over and saw a graceful and charming proprietress hurry out and twist the waiter’s ear.
"OW, OW, OW! I’m going, I’m going!" The waiter quickly broke free and ran inside.
The proprietress’s expression changed in a flash, and she beamed. "Sir, you were looking for...?"
However, when Zhu Ge saw this proprietress, his heart couldn’t help but stir.
’This proprietress actually has the aura of the Second Realm?’
And watching her movements, she seemed to have a sense of the Martial Dao about her.
"Proprietress, I’m here to sell meat," Zhu Ge said. "I live outside the city. Lately, there have been Demon Beasts everywhere, so I hunted a few. I can’t eat it all."
"Demon Beasts? Demon Beast Flesh?" The proprietress’s eyes lit up. "What kind of Demon Beasts? Fowl or land beasts? Any fish?"
"No fish, and I’ve already eaten the fowl, but I have plenty of land beasts," Zhu Ge said with a smile.
"This way, sir! This way!" The proprietress’s eyes curved into crescents. "Please, follow me, sir. I have a private room for you!"
Zhu Ge nodded and followed the proprietress inside.
The "private room" turned out to be a small private booth.
"My apologies, sir. All our large private rooms are full." The proprietress apologized while ordering someone to pour tea.
"It’s fine. I’m just here to ask about the price. If it’s right... I can be a future supplier," Zhu Ge said with a smile.
It couldn’t be helped. He was broke!
After leaving the Zhu Family Bookstore and Shihu Pavilion, Zhu Ge had come to a profound realization of the importance of money.
He had bought some things and sold some others.
After all was said and done, the number of gold, silver, and copper coins in his grass bowl had actually decreased instead of increased.
The money he spent had been converted into strength and knowledge.
But he had also seen many more opportunities to increase his strength.
For example, there were quite a few Spirit Medicine Shops and Spirit Pill Shops similar to Shihu Pavilion.
Spirit Medicine and Spirit Pills were both good things that could improve his strength.
In addition, there were three or four other bookstores on the street.
There were many books he wanted to buy and read to deepen his understanding of this world.
All in all, Zhu Ge desperately needed money!
Money meant strength!
Besides, Zhu Ge already enjoyed hunting Demon Beasts to practice his martial techniques in his spare time.
Before, he had been short on meat to eat. Now, he had so much that the entire valley was hung with it.
It was perfect. If the Tongfu Restaurant could take it all, he could just focus on hunting Demon Beasts from now on.
He could hunt Demon Beasts and collect Spirit Plants at the same time.
"We buy Demon Beast Flesh by the pound," the proprietress said. "For fresh meat, we can offer one silver coin per pound. If it’s cured, then the price will depend on its condition."
’One silver coin?!’
Zhu Ge was stunned.
Not because it was too low, but because it was too high!
"Is it the same price for a Spirit Realm Demon Beast and a Transformation Realm Demon Beast?" Zhu Ge frowned slightly.
Noticing Zhu Ge’s frown, the proprietress’s expression changed slightly, and she immediately said:
"Sir, of course it’s not the same price. Besides, one silver coin was the pre-war price. Now, we can offer three silver coins per pound!"
The proprietress gritted her teeth. "For a Transformed Demon Beast, we can pay eighteen silver coins, or one gold coin!"
’A Spirit Realm Demon Beast is actually three silver coins a pound.’
Zhu Ge’s brow furrowed even deeper.
He suddenly realized just how much money he had eaten in the past!
Forget everything else, just take that Long Fern Pig from the valley.
A Second Realm Transformation Realm Long Fern Pig probably weighed eight or nine hundred pounds.
’Even at eight hundred pounds, that would be two thousand four hundred silver coins!’
’Isn’t that roughly equal to two hundred gold coins?’
You have to understand, the Raincoat Fisherman’s entire fortune had only amounted to about two hundred gold coins.
Even at one silver coin a pound, it would still have been dozens of gold coins.
No wonder eating is ranked first among the vices of gluttony, drinking, debauchery, and gambling.
Zhu Ge knew that if this restaurant was buying meat at such a high price, they must be selling it for even more.
Of course, hunting a Second Realm Demon Beast was also very difficult.
Take the Raincoat Fisherman, for example. His Third Realm aura was like a torch in the dark, scaring away Demon Beasts from a great distance.
Zhu Ge had been able to slay Demon Beasts before, firstly because he was powerful, and secondly because he was only a First Realm Human Race practitioner.
How could a normal First Realm Human Race practitioner possibly defeat a Second Realm Transformed Demon Beast? They’d be lucky to escape with their lives.
And so, Zhu Ge had discovered a path to making money quickly.
"How much meat can you take?" A sharp glint flashed in Zhu Ge’s eyes.
"How much can I ’take’?" The proprietress also narrowed her eyes, her face wreathed in smiles. "I can handle ten thousand pounds."
’Ten thousand pounds?’
’That would be three thousand gold coins.’
Zhu Ge was startled, but in an instant, he made up his mind.
’From now on, I’ll do nothing else but focus on killing Demon Beasts and selling their flesh!’
"I have some cured meat here. Go weigh and appraise it, then give me the money." Zhu Ge stood up abruptly and took out the grass bowl.
"A storage-type Spiritual Artifact?" The proprietress’s eyes lit up.
At that moment, Hua Liusha, who had been silent in his mind, suddenly spoke up:
’Brother, this woman wants to steal what’s in the grass bowl!’
"Hm?" Zhu Ge snorted coldly, and the Blood Qi within his Martial Arts Heart surged forth.
"Ah!" The proprietress was startled and retreated a few steps.
"The Thief Dao?" Zhu Ge sneered. "Does your restaurant do business by stealing?"
The Thief Dao!
This was one of the branches of the Martial Dao.
The Martial Dao was a great Dao that had existed since time immemorial. Subsequently, the ancient masters had forged their own paths, developing one branch after another.
For example, when a large group of martial artists gathered to fight a common enemy, it became the Military Dao.
For example, there were the chivalrous heroes who drew their swords to help the wronged, and there was the Thief Dao, which focused on stealing, robbing, and Qinggong.
And this proprietress before him was clearly a practitioner of the Thief Dao!
"Sir, please calm down! I wasn’t stealing! It was just an automatic reaction of my Blood Qi. I didn’t mean to steal!"
"If I wanted to steal from you, why would I wait until you took out the Spiritual Artifact to make a move?"
The proprietress’s face was pale, completely drained of color.
But her tone was sincere, and her body showed no signs of resisting with Blood Qi.
’Brother, her Blood Qi really didn’t seem to be trying to invade intentionally just now,’ Hua Liusha also explained.
’She has a point. If she really wanted to steal it, she should have waited until after you left. There’s no need to do it right in front of you.’
’An automatic reaction?’
’It’s definitely more than that.’
Zhu Ge knew in his heart that if he hadn’t reacted just now, the grass bowl might have vanished without a trace after he left the restaurant.
However, he still had meat to sell, so he couldn’t really fly off the handle.
"Alright, get up."
"As a fellow practitioner of the Martial Dao, your ’pale face’ act is a bit too fake."