Chapter 25
Ridiculous fate.
South street, which is next to North street, is a famous street for magic herbs. It is just like North street, the only difference being that South street specializes in selling magic herbs. All types of magic herbs, as long as they are level six and below are available here. Most importantly, there are shops selling magic herb seeds on South street. The availability of magic herb seeds is similar to that for magic herbs, level six and below. But the amount of magic herb seeds is less than magic herbs, especially for high level ones. That’s because the higher the level, the harder it is to grow from seeds. Furthermore the time it takes to mature is also much longer. Therefore, very few mages will buy magic herb seeds to grow. Most of them would buy seeds that are level three and below. Even so, the number of people who buy seeds are still very few.
You XiaoMo wants to buy quite a lot of magic herb seeds. The shop with the most complete selection should probably the bigger magic herb shops. But he doesn’t immediately go in. He asks around everywhere to roughly determine the prices for magic herb seeds before settling on the biggest magic herb shop ——- Orchid pavilion.
The Orchid pavilion shopfront is bigger than the wooden furnishings shop. Magic herbs and magic herb seeds are displayed separately. The are fewer customers buying magic herb seeds. Since seeds don’t take up much space, the magic herb seeds only take up one shopfront. A few scattered customers are inside making their choices.
When You XiaoMo walks in, an attendant immediately greets him. After explaining what he is here for, the attendant leads him right away to where the level one to level three magic herb seeds are.
“Distinguished guest, you have come to right place. Our Orchid pavilion has the most complete selection of magic herb seeds in He Ping town. May I ask how much you would like to buy?” the attendant turns around and asks politely.
You XiaoMo glances over the seeds on the shelves, saying “I would like to buy all the level two seeds. How many types of level two seeds do you have? How much are they?”
The attendant says, “Level two magic herb seeds, we have eighty types. Each type sold in small packets. We have one hundred seeds, two hundred seeds, five hundred seeds, one thousand seeds. Four choices. Every five hundred seeds costs one gold piece.”
You XiaoMo calculates carefully for a moment. If he were to buy the five hundred seeds packet, eighty types will be eighty gold pieces. That would leave him with three hundred and thirty four gold pieces. He can probably buy some level three seeds.
“Then, what about level three seeds?” You XiaoMo asks further.
The attendant does not show any signs of impatience, and continues to explain clearly: “We have sixty four types of level three seeds. Each type is sold in the same quantities as level two seeds. Every five hundred seeds cost four gold pieces.”
You XiaoMo can’t help from feeling a twitch in his eyelid. This is too costly. Three gold pieces more than level two seeds and it’s only one level higher. It is unexpectedly so expensive. If he were to buy them all, he would have to spend two hundred and fifty six gold pieces in one go.
Seeing the change in his expression, the attendant could roughly guess what was going on in his head. He says temptingly: “Distinguished guest, if you want to buy level two and level three seeds, we can give you one set of level one seeds for free.”
You XiaoMo can’t help feeling stunned. He suddenly feels as if he has gone back to the modern age. The familiar promotional tactics, although it is not buy one get one free. Although the value of a set of level one seeds is only ten gold pieces.
In the end, You XiaoMo swallows the pain and buys them, spending three hundred and thirty six gold pieces. Orchid pavilion throws in a free set of level one seeds. A hundred seeds per packet. Although not a lot, it’s better than nothing. Besides, he also wants to try planting level one magic herbs in his dimension. Although he can reduce the risk of low grade magic pills to ten percent, they are after all still low grade magic pills. The effect is not as good as mid or top grade magic pills.
Leaving Orchid pavilion, You XiaoMo looks up at the sky. In a blink of an eye, he feels that time is really flying by. Before he knows it, the sun is about to set. Since they will only meet up tomorrow morning, he can only fend for himself tonight. Luckily he still has over seventy pieces of gold in his magic bag so he wouldn’t have to sleep on the streets tonight. Just now, while he buying the magic herbs, he also asked about the location of the rest houses.
The rest houses are located on West street. Usually, those who come to He Ping town to purchase necessities, such as the disciples from TianXin sect, would descend on West street if they have to spend the night. But which rest house would depend on one’s individual preference. It could just be bad luck but after going through a few mid level rest houses, he is told by the managers that there are no vacant rooms. At first, he was very surprised. Usually, mid-level rest houses should have available rooms. Later he learns that this is the first of the month, the time when the magic pill and magic herb shops on North street and South street replenish their stocks. So this time period is always the busiest time for He Ping town.
Left with no choice, You XiaoMo heads for the biggest rest house. This rest house was especially recommended by the attendant at the Orchid pavilion. It is operated by the same owner as the Orchid pavilion. But because it is a little expensive, it is not You XiaoMo’s first choice.
It is now dinner time. The seating area is seventy to eighty percent occupied. The waiters are eagerly attending to the customers. Steaming hot dishes fill the whole rest house with fragrant aromas. The manager is standing behind the counter flicking the abacus with a serious and calculating expression.
Seeing him enter, the wrinkled old face of the manager lights up with a smile, “Distinguished guest, would you like a room or are you here for dinner?”
“I would like to spend the night.” You XiaoMo replies.
The manager checks his books and says, “Distinguished guest, we only have two rooms left. A main room is five gold pieces, would that do?”
Stunned, You XiaoMo blurts out, “Can’t you charge me a little less?”
Hearing these words, laughter breaks out behind him. Those sitting close by must have overheard what he said. Most probably it’s their first time hearing someone bargaining with a rest house manager, so they find it very funny.
The manager answers awkwardly: “Distinguished guest, this is the price for our rooms, we can’t charge any cheaper.”
You XiaoMo is also a little embarrassed. He had only said that unconsciously. But the reason why he didn’t bargain when buying the magic herb seeds is because the attendant had thrown in a free set of level one seeds. Shouldn’t he able to get a free meal from the manager here? You XiaoMo toughens his scalp and hands over the five gold pieces.
An attendant shows him to his room. Before he leaves, You XiaoMo requests to have dinner brought to his room. The attendant did not leave him waiting. Before the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he brings over the dishes. They smell, look, and taste great. In fact, it’s much better than what he has been eating in Earth peak. He later finds out the the cost of the meal is included in the five pieces of gold. Because the price is high, the service is also much better than that given downstairs. The attendants also seem to be at his beck and call, comparable to the service found in modern five star hotels. So, the five star service that he didn’t have the chance to enjoy in the modern era, he now enjoys in Long Xiao continent.
After eating and drinking his fill, You XiaoMo starts to sort through today’s purchases. He transfers the wooden furnishings and seeds into the tear drop, then locks the room door before entering the dimension.
Under the blue skies, he had cleared a piece of land that is about thirty square meters. Furthermore, he had already made the necessary preparations, reconditioning the soil. He only needs to scatter the seeds before sprinkling some water. That should do it.
But he doesn’t immediately start scattering the seeds. Instead, he places the wooden furnishings in a suitable spot before putting the seeds in the various compartments. In order to make it easier, he meticulously pastes a label on each compartment showing the type of seeds in each compartment.
Once he is done with everything, it was already the hai period, a little past nine. Leaving the dimension, You XiaoMo rubs his tummy. The dinner from before has already been used up, so he simply gets up and leaves the room, planning to look for food.
Just when he takes a few steps out of his room, the door of the neighboring room opens suddenly. Someone dressed in a white robe steps out. The robe looks simple but if you look carefully it is clear that the robe is actually exquisite and luxurious. Simply on a whole different level when compared to the extremely plain green robe on his own body. When he looks up and sees the other person’s face, You XiaoMo immediately ?.
Why the hell? Why the hell must I run into Lin Xiao here? What makes him most vexed is that Lin Xiao is walking towards him. You XiaoMo can’t help feeling conflicted. Should he greet him? Although they have not formally met, they have already come across each other multiple times, so it is possible that Lin Xiao recognizes him.
Seeing that he is almost in front of him, You XiaoMo’s body reflexively reacts faster than his chaotic mind. As if he is running into a headmaster, he straightens his chest and calls out, “Greetings to Elder brother!”, just lacking the word headmaster which he luckily does not blurt out.
Saying this, he immediately ?, because the other party looks at him in surprise, with no sign of recognition. You XiaoMo suddenly has to impulse to give himself a tight slap. That’s what you get for shooting your mouth off. After this incident, Lin Xiao is sure to remember him.
After recovering from his surprise, ‘Lin Xiao’ can only put on a gentle and refined smile, saying while looking at him, “So you’re my Junior brother. Why are you not together with Uncle Mo Gu?”
Hearing these words, the look of horror on You XiaoMo’s face can be compared to that of someone seeing a ghost. This person is not actually Lin Xiao, right?
Notes:
Egg pain = pain in the balls ~ ridiculous
hai period = 21:00-23:00
? – emoticon for OMG