Chapter 224: The Cat's Secret (Edited)

Tom looked outside at the darkening sky and at the owner, who had the typical appearance of the Nubians, and decided that the shop was the place he was looking for.

"Nubian black tea, please!" As Tom was thinking, the shopkeeper fetched a teapot from somewhere and poured two cups of black tea for Tom and Hermione.

Tom waved his hand and apologized, but the owner laughed, "It's free!"

But Tom kept waving his hand in a gesture of refusal. Sometimes it's not so easy to haggle for someone else's tea.

"Are you sure you don't want some tea? We're all friends, and friends should always offer a cup of tea when they visit."

'When did we become friends?' thought Tom, but he knew he wouldn't accept the offer if it meant being short-handed. Seeing Tom's determination, the owner had no choice but to wave his hand with a hint of regret and place the Anubis statue on the table.

"That statue is too small. I have a bigger one here." He even brought a ladder and attempted to retrieve the merchandise from the top shelf.

Tom's face turned green at the sight. Being too hospitable to a shopkeeper at a tourist attraction is not always a good thing.

The owner brought out an old statue that was approximately forearm-length, covered in dust, but the movement of him holding the statue seemed to startle a creature on the top shelf.

A hairless black cat leaped from the top shelf, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and nearly knocking the shopkeeper off the ladder. In a hurry, the owner swept the pile of items from the top shelf.

As the dust filled the air, Tom noticed what appeared to be a tablet among the swept objects and leaned in, pretending to be concerned about the shopkeeper, while subtly taking a glance at the tablet to make sure it was indeed the fourth piece of the expedition's pattern they were looking for.

"Are you okay?" Tom clung to the shopkeeper's ladder, memorizing the design on the tablet.

"I'm fine," he said while dusting himself off, "It's just a kitten. What harm could a cat do? In Egypt, cats are forgiven for everything they do."

He brought over a small stool, sat on it, and began picking up the merchandise that had fallen to the floor.

Tom realized that he had set aside the intact statue, cleared the two broken ones to a corner, and set aside the tablet along with a cat statue the size of a shoebox.

These two items were completely different from those statues that, at first glance, seemed of poor quality and appeared as relics from the past.

"What is this?" Tom asked, pointing to the tablet and the carving.

"I don't know, it belongs to the old man of the family. Well, we can talk business now." He lifted the statue with long and short arms and pulled out a pink towel, dusting it off, and it was clear that he had no intention of selling either of the two objects. Whether he was pretending or not, Tom couldn't tell.

As he cleaned the statues, his son entered silently and carefully stored the two antiques, cleaning up the broken pieces from the floor.

"My friend, let's sit and talk." He guided Tom and Hermione inside his shop, found a small table to sit at, and brought two chairs for Tom and Hermione.

"A very beautiful statue."

Tom had achieved his goal for the trip and had no desire to continue shopping. All he wanted was to return to Cairo, reunite with Dr. Hunter and the others, and venture into the desert.

But it would be nice to buy a souvenir, so Tom was willing to engage in a conversation with the shopkeeper.

"How much does it cost?"

The shopkeeper paused, by now having cleaned off all the pumice stone from the wooden carving, revealing the dark reddish-brown wood inside. "280 dollars."

Tom: "!!!"

"Dollars?"

"Yes, dollars, not Egyptian pounds."

The price seemed utterly unacceptable to Tom. How dare you ask for $280 for this statue, which was excavated from the backyard last week?

"280 Egyptian pounds." Tom changed the currency unit.

"1,800 Egyptian pounds."

"200 Egyptian pounds."

Both men fell silent.

"What about this?" the shopkeeper pulled out a small book, "800, how about this?"

He simply crossed out a "1."

Seeing how painfully the shopkeeper had lowered the price, Hermione silently put her wallet away. She had almost paid.

Tom continued shaking his head.

"Are you still students? Well then, it's not 200 pounds, it's not 800 pounds, it's 500 pounds, student price."

Tom shook his head, "250 pounds."

"£400!"

Tom: "..."

Shopkeeper: (￣ー￣)

"How much did you say it was then?"

"£250."

"Now look, all of Aswan, there's no more authentic Anubis statue than mine!" The owner was also becoming impatient, "350 pounds, will you buy it?"

"I only have 250 pounds." Tom seemed unafraid to buy or sell, and if they pushed him too hard, he would give those Muggles a hard time.

The owner relented and waved his hand, "Alright, alright, because we're friends." He quickly pulled out a black plastic bag and swiftly placed the statue inside, so quickly that Tom felt like he had overbid.

For Hermione, it was a refreshing change of pace. 1,800 Egyptian pounds down to a hard bargain of 250 pounds. It was a good price, considering some of the stalls where saints had their seals engraved could haggle up to 10%, and she wondered what the folks at Gringotts would think.

Hermione opened her wallet and pulled out three one-hundred-dollar bills.

Shopkeeper: ...

It only cost 250 pounds! You came looking for a fight, didn't you?

But he didn't say anything more. After all, he had just made a profit.

"Are you here as a tourist?" The owner was in a good mood after the wordplay and successful sale, and he chatted with Tom while folding the clothes.

"Actually, we would like to go into the desert to explore." Tom wasn't afraid to speak freely, as expeditions to the Sahara were common in those days.

But the owner was stunned, and his hands stopped moving. He said to Tom seriously, "My friend, I suggest you postpone it for a few days. It's not a good time to venture into the desert."

Tom: ???

"You can't go to the desert these days. To be safe, I suggest you postpone it until August. This is the wisdom of the land passed down to my ancestors."

Tom thought the current owner was telling the truth.

"The arrow is on the bow, I have no choice."

The owner sighed, went into deep thought, and asked his son to bring the cat statue.