“I do have something I want to sell you, take a look.” Jiang Yue asked Shopkeeper Qiao to look at the basket on Xue Yan’s back.
Shopkeeper Qiao took a casual look, but his eyes were immediately fixed on it. “This! Is this moonbelly mushroom?!”
It was still fresh!
However, how could they have fresh moonbelly mushrooms here? Didn’t no one in the entire state capital ever pick fresh moonbelly mushrooms?
In fact, even the dry moonbelly mushrooms had never appeared in their entire state capital.
He was also fortunate enough to have seen the moonbelly mushrooms in other state capitals, but in the end, they had to be sent to the palace as a tribute to the emperor.
Now, these two children actually had a few that were freshly picked!
“Please, please, please, let’s go in and talk.” Shopkeeper Qiao quickly led Jiang Yue and Xue Yan to an empty private room.
He was being extremely cautious.
When they arrived at the private room, Shopkeeper Qiao ordered tea and snacks for the kids.
Xue Yan and Jiang Yue both sat down.
The mahogany chair was a little too tall for them. Xue Yan was seven years old, so he was fine sitting on it, but Jiang Yue was too young. Her legs drooped and her feet couldn’t touch the ground at all, making her look more like a child.
Xue Yan didn’t have any intention to speak, so Jiang Yue just went for it. “My brother and I found these by accident when we were digging for wild vegetables this morning, so we picked them all. My brother read about them in books and knew that they were moonbelly mushrooms. He thought that you were being fair, so he didn’t go anywhere and came directly to your place to see if you wanted to buy them first. Now that you’ve invited us to this room, I’m sure you have the intention of buying this basket of moonbelly.”
“I’ve always known you were different.” Shopkeeper Qiao sipped his tea and smiled. “This is a rare item, so of course, I would want to buy it.”
As for what it would be used for after buying it, there was no need to say; it was his private matter.
“How much do you plan to pay for so many mushrooms?” Jiang Yue asked.
Shopkeeper Qiao looked at the basket of moonbelly mushrooms by Xue Yan’s feet and pondered for a while before saying, “Four hundred silver, that’s the only price I can offer.”
Before Jiang Yue could reply, Shopkeeper Qiao continued, “I remember that the last time you sold the bear, you said something about an older brother saying that it was worth at least eighty silver. This person here must be that older brother.”
At this point, Shopkeeper Qiao looked at Xue Yan with a smile, his eyes full of shrewdness.
There was nothing to hide about that, so Jiang Yue acknowledged it.
Xue Yan just smiled politely.
“Do you think four hundred is a suitable price?” asked Shopkeeper Qiao.
“I’m curious to know what you’re going to do with it instead.” Xue Yan said indifferently. If he bought it and ate it secretly, four hundred silver would be a sky-high price. If he bought it to curry favor with the influential people and secretly offered it to the influential people, then the benefits he would get would not be just four hundred silver. By that means, four hundred was obviously too little.
Shopkeeper Qiao wasn’t a fool and could understand the meaning behind his words. He immediately asked, “May I know your name?”
“My surname is Xue.”
upon hearing the surname Xue, Shopkeeper Qiao was reminded of something. “So you’re the Xue boy from the Hanlin Academy?!” It was no wonder he found the boy familiar. He had come to this place for a meal with his classmates before.
Jiang Yue raised her eyebrows slightly. It seems that Xue Yan was quite famous.
“I’m not a prodigy, and I’m no longer studying in town,” Xue Yan said.
“I heard all about it. The people from your academy often come to my place for meals, so I know the latest news. Since it’s you, I’ll change the price to six hundred silver. No more than that. After all, business is business.”