The Auction House
The eyes of the owner of the drugstore widened as soon as he saw the medicines in Zheng-Fu’s hand before they turned sparkling a little later. The owner showed this mischievous smile on his face and then said, “Did you just say that you have something to sell?” The owner of the drugstore asked while looking at the medicines on Zheng-Fu’s hand…
“Yes, sir!”
“And what is that medicine in your hand?” The guy pretended to ask Zheng-Fu to check if Zheng-Fu realized what he had in his hand…
“It is a medicine to heal physical ailments, sir,” Zheng-Fu said while smiling…
“A medicine for physical ailments!?”
“That’s correct, sir. It is. Are you going to buy it?”
“Of course. I can give you a hundred monster crystal coins for that pill.”
“A hundred monster crystal coins!”
Zheng-Fu exclaimed after hearing the price, thinking that the price that the owner of the store gave him was only 30 monster crystal coins higher than the original recipe…
“Just a hundred monster crystal coins?”
“That’s correct. I can’t give you any higher. If you don’t want it, then it’s up to you. My store is the biggest in the city, so you should know that.” The owner said and gave a winning smile because he thought that Zheng-Fu did not know the real price of the pill. He prepared to enjoy the excessive profits that he could make from buying the pill with a hundred monster crystal coins. The profits should be about three to four times more. The pill that Zheng-Fu was trying to sell was of the second rank, so the actual price should be about 400 to 500 monster crystal coins…
Squeak!
Ding-Ding!
As Zheng-Fu was contemplating whether to agree to sell the pill, a young man opened the door and walked in…
“Yo! Little Zheng-Fu!”
Zheng-Fu heard someone call his name, so he turned to the door and found Kong-Chang there…
“Hi! Brother Kong-Chang! It’s good to see you again.”
“Likewise, Zheng-Fu. What are you doing here?”
“Well…I’m trying to sell my medicine, brother.”
“Selling a medicine!?”
Kong-Chang was somewhat surprised. But as he saw the pill in Zheng-Fu’s hand, he turned shocked and then said, “Is that the medicine that you are going to sell?”
“Yes, brother! But I’m thinking about whether to sell them or not because it’s only a hundred monster crystal coins.” Zheng-Fu said to Kong-Chang while feeling sad about the low price…
“A hundred monster crystal coins!?”
Gulp!
The owner of the drugstore sent out a loud gulp as soon as Zheng-Fu told what happened to Kong-Chang. There was this cold sweat running down the guy’s forehead because he knew Kong-Chang. He did not think that Zheng-Fu would know him too. The owner of the drugstore felt ashamed for giving such a low price to Zheng-Fu…
“That’s crazy! Why did you give such a low price to him? Are you trying to cheat a kid? This is a second-rank pill. You should at least give the boy about 400 to 500 monster crystal coins. Why did you give him just a hundred…?”
“W…w…well…um…”
Zheng-Fu could not help but frown terribly while turning to the owner of the store instantly. He did not realize that this credible-looking man could have the heart to cheat him. He did not like the owner’s move at all…
“Sir…?”
The owner of the drugstore gave a shameful laugh.
The owner of the drugstore could only laugh shamefully now. His face turned pale and looked sad at the same time. He felt like it was too bad that Kong-Chang turned up at his store at the wrong time, otherwise, he would have made tons of money from buying Zheng-Fu’s pill. But since that was not the case, he could only say sorry about it…
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. Here! Four hundred monster crystal coins for that pill.” The owner of the drugstore took out the money and placed it on the table immediately…
“I’m not going to sell them to you. I don’t want to sell them to a cheater like you! I’d thought of you so highly, but what you did was to take advantage of a kid!” Zheng-Fu complained while making an innocent face at the same time. The owner of the drugstore did not know how to behave now. He could feel the condemnation. It would have been more acceptable for him if he was with Zheng-Fu alone, but Kong-Change was there too. Without Kong-Chang, he would have felt just fine…
“How about I give you 450 monster crystal coins!? This is the best I could give you.”
“Alright, alright… To save your honor, I’m willing to sell it to you. Thank you for doing business with me.” Zheng-Fu handed the second-rank pill to the owner of the drugstore while smiling so big because he was pleased. The owner of the drugstore, on the other hand, felt the opposite…
*This is only from selling just one pill. If I sold five of them, I would make 2,250 monster crystal coins.* Just thinking about it made Zheng-Fu smile happily. But he thought that the owner of this drugstore would not buy the rest of his pills, so he must find some other places to sell them. That was why he turned to Kong-Change and asked…
“Do you happen to know anywhere else that will buy these medicines, brother Kong-Chang?”
“What!?”
Both Kong-Chang and the owner of the drugstore were stunned by Zheng-Fu’s question. Then Kong-Chang got it together and then asked, “Are you telling me that you have more of that pill?”
“Yes, sir!”
Zheng-Fu answered Kong-Chang while taking out the rest of the pills to show him…
“Th…th…that’s mad!”
The owner of the drugstore’s facial expression changed unnaturally. He felt completely in awe because he had never seen second-rank pills this much at the same time…
“There are some other places that will buy your pills if you wish to sell them,” Kong-Chang answered Zheng-Fu while looking at the owner of the drugstore, who was still in awe and did not know what to think. When he saw Kong-Chang looking at him, he could get it together and then said…
“Well, I can’t buy the rest of your pills, boy. But I think if you want to sell all of them at the same time, you might as well just go to the auction house. They buy everything and they would be more than willing to buy your pills because they are second-rank pills. The people there will definitely buy all of them.” That was what the owner of the drugstore could say to Zheng-Fu…
“The auction house!?”
Kong-Chang nodded in agreement to the store owner when he heard of the auction house. He was going to say the same thing to Zheng-Fu…
“That’s right, little Zheng-Fu. The auction house is willing to buy just about anything. You can also auction your pills there. They would take 20 percent of what you will get. For example, if you make a hundred monster crystal coins from your pill, you can take 80 monster crystal coins home with you…”
“I see. Well, could you please take me there!?”
“Yeah!”
As soon as both Zheng-Fu and Kong-Chang finished the conversation, they headed to the auction house right away, leaving behind the owner of the drugstore with his astonishment…
“Who’s that kid?”
While on the way to the auction house, Kong-Chang appeared to want to ask Zheng-Fu something, but he decided not to do so. However, Zheng-Fu could catch Kong-Chang’s gesture, so he asked…
“What’s bothering you, brother Kong-Chang?”
“Ah…!”
Kong-Chang was startled by Zheng-Fu’s question. He turned to give a dry smile to Zheng-Fu and could not help but feel shy in front of the boy and then he said…
“I know that it’s not my business, but can I ask you how you got those pills?”
“Hahaha!”
“Is that what bothers you? I thought you were in agony or something judging by your look.”
“Do I look like that!?”
“Hahaha!”
“I was joking, brother!”
“What!?”
Kong-Chang realized that he just got teased by Zheng-Fu. The boy’s words made him feel the heat on his face. He could see that Zheng-Fu was full of capability and wit. It took him off guard to be teased by this 8-year-old boy, which made him wonder about the boy’s real age. Not long after the light conversation that Zheng-Fu and Kong-Chang had, both of them finally arrived at the auction house. There were a lot of people crowded in that place, both men and women…
“Is this the auction house? There are so many people here. I guess it’s a real auction house after all.”
Zheng-Fu used to read about auction houses in the previous world. He used to want to visit one once in that world. He remembered that online auctions were very popular there. One thing he knew about the physical auction house was that people fought to auction for what they wanted with real money. And it could get feisty…
“I believe that this is your first time at the auction house?”
“Yes, brother. It’s my first time here. Do you think that they are going to buy my medicines if they see that I’m just this old?” Zheng-Fu asked with his innocent, but sad face…
“No need to worry about that. I’ll take care of it. Follow me!”
“Thank you, brother Kong-Chang!”
Kong-Chang took Zheng-Fu to the counter where they could assess the pills to see the price before taking them to auction…
“That’s brother Kong-Chang, isn’t that!?”
All of a sudden, Zheng-Fu and Kong-Chang heard this pretty girly voice from their behind. The voice was so beautiful and charming, so the two turned around and saw a young woman in front of them…
The young woman walked towards Zheng-Fu and Kong-Chang in a feminine fashion. She was a really pretty one, so it made the people in the area stare at her…
“Xiao-Jiang!?” Kong-Chang cried the young woman’s name…
Zheng-Fu did not realize he was staring at the young woman too. Even though he was in an 8-year-old body, he used to be 20-something before in the previous world. So, when he saw the young woman in her tight red dress, he felt something. Her look made her so desirable. She smelled great too. Everyone around her seemed to be under her charm…
“Hello, brother Kong-Chang!”
“Hi, Xiao-Jiang!”
“What brings you to our In-See Napa Auction House?”
“I’m here to help my brother sell his medicines.”
“Selling medicines!?
“That’s right! It’s good that I run into you. Could you please help us with my brother’s pills auction?”
“Brother!?”
When Kong-Chang mentioned his brother, Xiao-Jiang had to pay attention to Zheng-Fu. Then she saw little Zheng-Fu stared back at her…
“Hello, pretty sister!”
“Wow! So cute!”
When Xiao-Jiang saw Zheng-Fu’s innocent eyes and face, she immediately jumped at him with affection…
“What’s your name, little brother? Is it you who need my help?”
“Yes, pretty sister!”
“Gosh! So cute! Can I take him home, brother Kong-Chang? Come, let me hug you, little brother!” Xiao-Jiang would not wait to draw Zheng-Fu in and hug him. Zheng-Fu liked to be hugged that way…
*Wow. It’s really good to be a little kid. She smells so good. I can now rest in peace.*
“That kid is so lucky to be hugged that way.”
“Why can’t I have that too!”
“Ahem!”
Kong-Chang had to fake cough so Xiao-Jiang realized that people around her started to look at her dreamily…
“Tee-hee! Please forgive me. This boy is too cute. So, what’s your name, little man?”
“My name’s Zheng-Fu, pretty sister!”
“Zheng-Fu? That’s a good name. So, what kind of pill do you want to sell?”
Zheng-Fu took out his second-rank pills for physical healing to show Xiao-Jiang instead of having to say it…
“That’s…!”