Collecting Rent From All Realms, Even Empresses Must Pay Tribute
Ch. 31 - I Found This When I Was Little

Soon, exquisite dishes were served: cheesy lobster, steamed grouper, braised sea cucumber in abalone sauce…

"Huh? This 1288 yuan set meal is actually quite affordable." Ye Chuan often bought groceries and knew the market prices of these ingredients. 

Seeing the dishes in front of him, although the portions weren't large, he felt a strange sense of value for money.

Luo Xi had never eaten any of this before. She just felt a pang of heartache for the money, not even picking up her chopsticks, her eyes blinking rapidly.

Having helped her family with work since she was young, and with her mother's constant medical expenses, Luo Xi knew the value of money better than anyone. 

She rarely bought anything for herself, saving almost everything.

"Not eating?" Ye Chuan asked, seeing that Luo Xi hadn't touched her chopsticks.

"I'll eat." Luo Xi nodded slightly. Since the dishes had already been ordered, she didn't want to spoil Ye Chuan's mood.

For her, since Ye Chuan had already ordered, there was no point in pestering him to leave. It was unrealistic and pointless. They couldn't just return the dishes.

Picking up her chopsticks, Luo Xi gave Ye Chuan a piece of fish belly. "This part of the fish is the most tender."

"I don't like fish," Ye Chuan glanced at it.

"You don't like the bones, right?" Luo Xi knew Ye Chuan too well. She nudged him and said, "I'll remove the bones for you, just eat it. How can you not eat fish? It's so nutritious."

Ye Chuan found Luo Xi's puffed-up cheeks amusing and didn't argue.

After they finished eating, Ye Chuan stopped Luo Xi and paid the bill himself.

Even though he had spent over a thousand yuan on a single meal, Ye Chuan didn't feel any distress.

This was absurd for his past self. Was it because it was too easy to obtain, so he didn't cherish it?

"Over a thousand for one meal, so expensive!" After leaving the restaurant, Luo Xi felt that they could have eaten barbecue at her family's stall for a week. She looked at Ye Chuan beside her.

"ChuanChuan, are you going home?"

"Come with me, let's walk around." Ye Chuan took out his phone and checked nearby stores.

Walk around?

Luo Xi thought he was going to buy some clothes or something, but Ye Chuan led her to a nearby bathroom fixtures store. 

Inside, there were showerheads, bathtubs, faucets, toilets, everything.

"Chuan Chuan, are you buying a showerhead?" Luo Xi guessed what Ye Chuan wanted to buy. At his current place, he still used a hose to fill a bucket with hot water for showering. 

Luo Xi had mentioned it before, but Ye Chuan had said he was used to it.

Thinking about it now, so-called "being used to it" was just an excuse to comfort oneself, a compromise with the current situation. 

It wasn't about being used to something, but being used to compromising.

"Boss, how much is this shower set?" Ye Chuan pointed at a black shower set, which included a rain showerhead, a shelf, and a thermostatic mixer.

"This is a famous brand, 1299 yuan," the boss said with a smile. "This brand will last you ten years, no problem."

"599, including installation?" Ye Chuan looked away and cut the price in half. His words made the boss's face change slightly, and he said with a forced smile, 

"No way, little brother, my cost price is over a thousand. I'm just making a small profit."

"If you'll sell it, pack it up for me. If not, I'll look elsewhere," Ye Chuan said. The boss shook his head. "Alright, go look elsewhere, I can't do this deal."

Ye Chuan and Luo Xi turned to leave.

Just as they were about to step out of the store, the boss called out, "Hey, handsome, alright, alright, 599 it is. Let's be friends. Come back and patronize my business again."

"Sure, sure," Ye Chuan smiled.

After paying the deposit and giving his address, Ye Chuan scheduled the installation time with the boss and left with Luo Xi.

"I still can't learn your haggling skills. Aren't you being a bit too ruthless?" Luo Xi asked after they left the store.

"It depends on their tone. You can roughly gauge how much they've inflated the price. And for physical stores, if the gross profit margin isn't at least fifty percent, they can't survive," Ye Chuan said.

"Oh?"

After treating Luo Xi to milk tea and strolling around the mall to appease her, they parted ways and went home to rest.

Back home, Ye Chuan carried a bag of snacks to Bai QianShuang's door.

He first checked Bai QianShuang's status in the log and saw that she was just spacing out, then knocked on the door. 

"Fairy Bai, you free?"

"Yes, come in."

Pushing the door open, Ye Chuan saw Bai QianShuang sitting on a chair, reading a book.

She was wearing her white robe, her long black hair cascading down to her waist, her serene eyes as beautiful as obsidian.

Ye Chuan took a closer look at the book.

Five Years of High School Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulated Tests

Ye Chuan: "..."

"Can you understand that?" Ye Chuan asked. Why was Bai QianShuang reading this?

"No, but… it's interesting," Bai QianShuang shook her head. But her gaze was quickly drawn to the snacks in Ye Chuan's hands. 

Although her expression remained impassive, her perked-up ahoge betrayed her thoughts.

"Here, snacks for you."

"Thank you, scumbag," Bai QianShuang said solemnly.

Ye Chuan was momentarily speechless. He coughed lightly. "Actually, 'scumbag' has different meanings depending on the context. Just call me Ye Chuan for now."

Bai QianShuang nodded. "Then you can call me QianShuang."

"Sure." Ye Chuan smiled. Being more casual wasn't a bad thing.

Seeing Bai QianShuang's curiosity about the snacks, yet trying to maintain her composure in his presence, Ye Chuan took out the spirit stones.

"Oh right, I found these by the river when I was little. They're quite pretty, want to keep one?"

Bai QianShuang casually glanced at them, then her eyes widened in disbelief as she saw the familiar stones and the pure spiritual energy emanating from them.

"Spirit stones?"

"Spirit stones?" Ye Chuan feigned surprise. "Are they valuable?"

Bai QianShuang recovered and explained, "They're not particularly valuable in my world. They're just currency for cultivators, containing pure spiritual energy."

Not rare in the Xuan Continent, just used as currency, but here, it was completely different. 

The tiny bit of spiritual energy Bai QianShuang had absorbed here was less than a tenth of what was contained in a single spirit stone.

With enough spirit stones, Bai QianShuang could regain her full strength!

Bai QianShuang's expression turned troubled. She didn't know how to ask, because she desperately needed these spirit stones.

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