Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 370: Deal Made

Chapter 370: Chapter 370: Deal Made

When the pawnshop clerk emerged, he was followed by the pawnshop manager, who greeted Nanzhi with a smile as soon as he saw her.

"Madam Lin."

The manager, wearing a cordial smile, was significantly more enthusiastic than he would generally be with ordinary customers who came to the shop to buy goods.

In Yan City, wealthy people were plenty, but he was aware of Lin, about whom rumors about her being the City Master’s fiancee are circulating.

They were not short of silver, but lacked protection and support.

After the previous City Master left, Yan City seemed quiet on the surface, but there was chaos simmering underneath.

In business, there are always those who vie for dominance. They, with their insignificant backgrounds and their not-so-long duration in Yan City, were naturally the easiest targets.

On the outside, their own master didn’t panic, but the person in Kyoto was struggling to protect himself, so their last hope was to rely on Yan City.

In the past, people who came with silver to the City Master’s Residence were thrown out along with their bundles of money.

If this Madam Lin truly had significant influence, it could work out favorably for them. If not, at least they could establish a good bond.

At the very least, this Madam Lin wouldn’t be an easy adversary.

"These are all the goods we have in our shop." The manager’s assistants, carrying various wooden boxes, came forward one after another.

"This is our three hundred year old ginseng, it sells for five hundred taels of silver." The manager smiled, pointing at the largest wooden box.

When the box was opened, a piece of white cotton cloth was laid on the bottom. The ginseng was small, but the roots were preserved intact and were secured with thin golden threads in several places.

Looking at that ginseng, Nanzhi was a bit taken aback. Even though she was unfamiliar with such items, she could tell at first glance that its quality was excellent.

There’s a saying that older ginseng tend to gain magical properties, and this one was already close to taking a human form.

"This one is two hundred and ten years old; it sells for three hundred and sixty taels."

In the second box, also lined with cotton cloth, was another ginseng fastened with gold thread. This one was just a bit bigger than the previous one, with its roots similarly intact.

Nanzhi nodded approvingly, but didn’t say anything.

The manager paused and then carried on presenting the goods.

"This one is a hundred years old; it sells for one hundred and thirty taels of silver."

Nanzhi looked at the ginseng. It was smaller than the ones before and had many roots, but still looked quite good.

Sun Cui was astounded by the price the manager quoted.

She knew that ginseng was expensive, but hadn’t expected it to cost this much.

Five hundred taels for one ginseng, almost half the price of a three courtyards restaurant.

Little Yuanbao sat on the side, gazing intently. He knew that the silver he had brought was not enough.

The manager showed a few more ginsengs aged two or three decades. Compared to the previous ones, these appeared more modest, only wrapped in oil paper and placed in stir-fried rice.

"Does Madam Lin see any she likes?"

The manager asked softly, then hesitated for a moment before adding, "If Madam Lin sees something she wants, we can lower the price a bit."

Nanzhi pretended to consider, then asked, "I wonder how much less you can go for the two hundred and ten years old ginseng?"

The manager took a breath of relief when she asked a question, he quickly replied, "If Madam Lin really wants it, she can have it for three hundred and forty taels."

He knew the rules set by the boss for this particular ginseng: it could be sold as long as the price did not go below three hundred taels.

Leaving himself an allowance of forty taels of silver, there was still room for further negotiation.

This is a common strategy in doing business.

Nanzhi frowned slightly, appearing dissatisfied. Prompted by her expression, the manager quickly added,

"If you still think it’s expensive, we can lower it by another five taels." Finished speaking, the manager wore a bitter smile.

"Madam Lin also does business, so you must understand that this old ginseng is already very precious, and those over a hundred years old are even harder to find.

This one from our shop is rare and was intended to be sent to Kyoto. But since you were here, we thought we would show it to you to see if you could use it."

Sun Cui, standing on the side, almost rolled her eyes at his talk, but she held herself back.

Truly, these merchants had turned talk into an art form.

"Is that so? Then I am sorry to have troubled you." With an apologetic expression, Nanzhi started a bargaining fight with them.

Her original intention was just to buy that hundred-year-old ginseng. However, haggling over the price of the two hundred-year-old one was just so she could have better bargaining power.

The key, however, lay in whether Little Yuanbao could understand her intentions.

After much haggling between Nanzhi and the manager, Little Yuanbao felt a light tap on his back, and finally caught on, pretending to be unimpressed,

"Mother, I don’t want that."

The little girl pouted, feigning being hard to please.

"Yuanbao, be good." Nanzhi gently patted her little butt, saying nothing more.

"Mother, they don’t have any that are a thousand years old. Let’s go!"

The little girl hopped off the stool, grabbed Nanzhi and began to tug her towards the exit.

The manager, who had never seen such a tactic in a bargaining scenario, was stunned.

Usually, business dealings were carried out with men. On the rare occasion when a woman did come to do business, a little haggling usually sufficed.

But what was the little girl up to?

Sun Cui too, began to rise as if to leave.

Nanzhi role-played a troubled expression.

The manager turned pale.

These ginsengs were usually stored in their warehouse and hardly ever shown to customers. It would be a waste if they had gone to the trouble of bringing them all out for nothing.

"Sorry for the trouble" Nanzhi said apologetically, the manager’s face showing a myriad of expressions.

The next moment she heard her say.

"My child is in a hurry to leave, and I don’t want you to have gone through all that trouble for nothing. Why don’t you pack the twenty-year-old ginseng for me? For the rest, I wonder how much less you can offer the hundred-year-old one? If the price is right, I might buy that as well."

The manager’s face brightened considerably. He immediately waved to his men to pack the twenty-year-old ginseng.

As for the hundred-year-old ginseng, the manager gritted his teeth and named a price.

"Since Madam Lin is so forthright, I will only ask for one hundred taels for that hundred-year-old ginseng."

"Then please pack that for me as well. I will take them both."

Nanzhi smiled, and Little Yuanbao no longer displayed the "stubborn" attitude from before. Instead, he silently stood by her side, looking at the manager with innocent eyes.

The manager felt as though he had swallowed a fly, uncomfortable yet unable to spit it out.

"Okay."

They had bought the twenty-year-old ginseng for nine taels of silver and sold for nineteen taels. The hundred-year-old one, however, they had bought for eighty taels.

Selling it now for a hundred taels, he has no idea whether the boss will scold him once he’s back.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.