Plane Supermarket Plane 1: Da Liang Dynasty C34
“What did the immortal tell you?” Gao Sheng waited for his cousin as he emerged from the supermarket’s entrance, equally eager to go inside and explore this new world.
He was amazed by the glass door at the entrance of the supermarket.
Gao Sheng had seen glass before, but the glass he’d encountered was never truly crystal clear, let alone this almost transparent “glass.”
Cao Er Niang also informed him that this was tempered glass. Not to mention fists, even strikes with knives or axes would only result in cracks, not shattering.
Gao Sheng had considered himself well-traveled with a wide range of knowledge, but he couldn’t have imagined finding celestial artifacts in this remote and desolate village, a place devoid of human presence.
“The immortal…” Lin You’s eyes welled up with tears, but a smile played at the corners of his mouth. He spoke incoherently, “The immortal not only traded for food but also gave us seeds, enabling the refugees to cultivate and rebuild their lives.”
“Ten stones!” Lin You suddenly shouted with enthusiasm. “Ten stones per mu1!”
Gao Sheng was also surprised. Although he had never worked the land himself, when he was studying, he had to learn about this as it concerned the well-being of the nation.
If a specific region managed to achieve a yield of more than three stones per mu, the local officials had to report this accomplishment to the Emperor’s court. It was considered a great achievement for the Emperor.
But ten stones?
Even in the wildest dreams of the most daring agricultural officials, such a yield had never been imagined.
Not only Gao Sheng but also the guards watching over the carriage all turned their gaze towards Lin You in unison.
Lin You was no longer aware of their gaze, continuing, “It’s immortal grain! It must be immortal grain!”
Gao Sheng was suddenly excited, his eyes shining as he urged Lin You, “Quick, have them move the goods inside!”
Lin You also realized, turning to the guards and instructing, “You all, go ahead and move the goods inside.”
The guards were somewhat hesitant, standing their ground, none of them willing to take the lead.
Seeing no one move, Lin You picked up a box himself and laboriously made his way towards the supermarket.
He didn’t glance back, but he knew in his heart that they would undoubtedly follow him.
Even Gao Sheng personally carried a box inside.
As the guards saw the two young masters enter, they gathered their courage and began lifting the wooden crates, one by one.
These crates were all made of solid wood. There was no plywood in this era. They were not only large but also heavy. Just an empty crate required the strength of a grown man to move.
When these crates were filled with goods, sometimes even two strong men couldn’t move them.
They spent nearly two hours shuttling back and forth, finally moving everything.
This time, they not only brought a horse-drawn carriage for cargo but also an ox cart.
While oxen may not be as fast as horses, they could haul larger and heavier loads, and they weren’t as expensive as horses. You could buy them with just some coins.
Horses, on the other hand, were hard to come by. Even if a local official wanted a horse, they had to make inquiries, use intermediaries to persuade the sellers, and rely on personal connections to make the purchase.
“What’s inside these boxes?” Sarah was curious, crouching beside one of the crates. She looked up at Lin You with her red-tinted eyes fixed unblinkingly.
She appeared to be too young to pose any threat, and even for an outsider, her appearance didn’t give off any sense of danger.
Lin You gave Sarah a gentle smile and looked at her as if she were an ordinary girl. “The things mortals possess are not worthy of an immortal’s interest, so I didn’t bring any gold, silver, or art with me.”
Sarah was somewhat puzzled.
“You didn’t bring gold, silver, or art, but what did you bring, then?”
And you really avoided the most valuable things in this era.
Lin You didn’t keep her in suspense. “I brought precious jade and gemstones, along with agate.”
“These things are all naturally born and nurtured, cultivated over countless years.”
In his eyes, naturally occurring treasures were naturally more pleasing to immortals than things made by mortals.
Haven’t you seen how the immortal himself lives in this… in the pristine land of green hills and blue waters?
Sarah was not interested in jade. She didn’t understand much about it. But gemstones piqued her curiosity. She immediately followed Lin You’s instructions to open one of the wooden crates. Inside, it was filled with polished gemstones.
But there were no large ones to be seen.
It was really hard to obtain sizable natural gemstones. And gemstones weren’t highly valued in this era. Without cutting and polishing techniques, they tended to look a bit dull.
So, compared to the slightly lackluster gemstones, people still preferred jade.
“Hetian jade2 is quite rare,” Lin You said, a little embarrassed. His own jade pendant was only of the lower quality and the higher-quality pieces were either in the hands of high officials or in the palace. “There’s a type of new jade, but it’s brightly colored… I’m not sure if the immortal would like it.”
Sarah opened the crate containing the “new jade,” and as she did, the entire box revealed carved deity figurines, numerous jade bangles, and polished bead necklaces and bracelets.
Sarah recognized these items, saying, “It’s jadeite3.”
Lin You was momentarily taken aback. “That’s a great name! We hadn’t named the new jade yet!”
When Lin You had brought these new jades, he was quite uneasy. In fact, they brought these new jades to make up the numbers. After mining them, they were less favored due to their intense colors. As a result, they hadn’t gained much popularity. Besides attracting novelty seekers, there were very few people willing to purchase them.
If the jade was pale in color, it couldn’t match the warm and pure beauty of Hetian jade, giving off an air of nobility but lacking attractiveness.
If it was too intense, it would have a touch of vulgarity, being eye-catching, which wasn’t desirable either.
In the eyes of the common people, jade was the ultimate gemstone, and the new jade couldn’t even compare to the beauty of gold and silver.
But it had quantity on its side!
Since nobody was buying, and it was inexpensive, Lin You had someone purchase a significant amount of it, and then skilled craftsmen carved and polished the pieces.
After they were polished, they had a certain charm. Some of them even turned out surprisingly translucent.
It was a shame they had color. Otherwise, they could have been considered beautiful.
Lin You struggled to explain, “Although people may not appreciate these new jades, perhaps the immortal might find them appealing?”
Sarah can only say, ”I don’t like it either.”
Lin You: “…”
Sarah didn’t like the gemstones Lin You brought, not at all. She was into those sparkling, shimmering gemstones, not these dull “little stones.”
Lin You, who had been feeling anxious inside, was now on the verge of tears.
But then he exclaimed, “I also brought moonstone!”
Sarah responded, “…You can find that thing in the supermarket, right there on the shelf.”
She pointed to the children’s toy section. “The light it emits is dimmer than a candle. What’s the use of it?”
Lin You muttered in a daze, “What’s the use…”
The moonstone is rare!
Who thought it would be useful?
Don’t buy it if it’s useful.
Lin You wiped his face and sighed, “Now that it’s come to this, all we can do is hope that these things catch the eye of the immortals.”
·
Ye Zhou also received the samples sent in by Cao Er Niang. He looked at the table full of different gemstones and jade, and took a deep breath. He might not be well-versed in the market prices of gemstones, but when it came to jade, he was quite knowledgeable!
His mother’s favorite are jade bracelets, and thanks to her influence, Ye Zhou could truly appreciate the beauty of jade.
The thicker the water in which the jadeite is grown, the lighter the color. Ye Zhou was able to find a few pieces of jadeite that were thick in color and light in color from these “samples”.
In modern times, pieces of this caliber could easily fetch several million or even tens of millions for a single piece.
Most jade enthusiasts were either wealthy or noble, because this hobby was undeniably expensive. If an ordinary person were to purchase it, it wouldn’t be considered a hobby.
Jade enthusiasts pursued quality. In their eyes, even jade worth several million seems to be quite commonplace.
Ye Zhou remembered his mother having a heated argument with his father over the purchase of a violet-glass jadeite bracelet. In the end, his father conceded, and his mother spent more than a million to get that bracelet.
Three years later, they sold it for over eight million.
After that incident, his father never questioned his mother’s jade purchases again.
Ye Zhou approached the cash register holding what he considered the best-quality piece of jade with hope in his heart. He confidently scanned it with the barcode scanner –
“Jadeite Jade x1”
Income: 500.
Ye Zhou: ?
Ye Zhou: ?????
Are you kidding me? A jadeite of such exceptional quality is only worth 500?!
Did you accidentally omit four zeros?
“You’re offering such a low price?” Ye Zhou rushed back to the lounge, locked the door, and yelled at the computer, “If you had told me this price earlier, I wouldn’t have scanned it! Give me back my jade! Spit it out!”
The computer remained as immovable as a mountain.
Ye Zhou also knew that venting his frustration or reasoning with the computer was futile.
He couldn’t figure out where the problem was, so he glanced over at Sarah, who was sitting on the couch, engrossed in playing a mobile game.
Sarah noticed Ye Zhou’s gaze and looked back at him. After biting off a piece of her chili-flavored lollipop and swallowing it, she said, “The system converts the jadeite based on its purchasing power here. That’s why you only got five hundred for the best piece you had. Otherwise, an average one would be worth around two hundred, and the lower quality ones just a few or tens of dollars.”
Ye Zhou gazed at the table full of jadeite and said, “…These things have no purchasing power here?”
Sarah nodded, “He said no one likes them, and they are from abandoned mines, even without names.”
Ye Zhou: “…”
I… I lost…
Ye Zhou sighed as he looked at the table full of jadeite, realizing that it was impossible to exchange them for money here.
He would have to go to the jadeite’s original dimension to make a profit.
In any case, he will never “sell” it to the system at a low price!
What’s more, even if he were to sell them at a low price to the system, these jadeite pieces wouldn’t amount to much.
Speaking of which… Lin You seemed to have deliberately bypassed all the valuable items.
Could he have done it on purpose?
Ye Zhou looked at the gemstones again, thinking that these dull-looking gems were probably not valuable either.
So… Could it be that apart from these, Lin You didn’t bring anything else valuable?
Suddenly, Sarah spoke up, “I noticed the crates he used to store these things are pretty good, all made of solid wood, and the wood quality is excellent. The carvings are quite intricate too. They should be considered relatively valuable in this dimension, right?”
“A single one is worth a few thousand?”
Ye Zhou was surprised, his expression changing, “He wouldn’t take the wooden crates back, would he?!”
Sarah shook her head, “I’m not sure about that. He also brought a small box of Hetian jade, but I’ve checked it, and the quality is just average. But in this plane, it’s still worth quite a bit. In total, it might be several hundred thousand, but whether it can reach a million, I’m not sure.”
Ye Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. “As long as we can have some money in our account now, that’s good. I need to be well-prepared before exploring other planes.”
Although, it still wouldn’t be enough to buy a submachine gun. But he could afford two hand grenades.
The prices of the system’s firearms were jaw-droppingly expensive!
Ye Zhou sighed and said, “It would have been better if the system had sent me some of his clothes, along with shoes and a headdress. Oh, and by the way, did he bring the belt he forgot last time?”
“If there’s no belt… are his undergarments valuable?”
“He wears rough linen on the outside, so the inside should be better, right?”
When you broke af ( ಥ ʖ̫ ಥ)
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- 畝 mǔ: Chinese classifier for fields; unit of area equal to one fifteenth of a hectare [↩]
- 和田玉 Hé tián yù: Nephrite/Hotan Jade [Difference between nephrite & jadeite jade] [↩]
- 翡翠 fěi cu jadeite jadeì [↩]