Chapter 2 You Need Food Isn't That a Coincidence
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Translator: JayM
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: You Need Food? Isn't That a Coincidence?
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If it was food they needed, then it was just too easy for him to handle.
Was this the Intermediate Matching Card that could match one with a complementary trading partner?
It felt so good!
"Five hundred tons?"
Vivi's eyes lit up.
That much food was enough for the soldiers under her command to consume for half a month, sufficient to solve their urgent crisis.
But then she thought for a moment and said:
"What about things like vegetables, fruits, and meat? Can you provide them?"
These were all rare goods. Distributing them to her soldiers could greatly boost morale.
After thinking for a moment, before Su Yi could reply, she took out an exquisite glazed bottle from her personal storage space. Inside it was some light green liquid, probably around 500ml.
"This is the Water of Life from the Elven Race's Moon Lake. Is it feasible to exchange it for your food?"
As she spoke, she pulled out the cork stopper.
Su Yi immediately smelled a fragrant scent.
His somewhat listless spirit, caused by worrying about work and staying up late in recent days, was instantly refreshed.
At the same time, an introduction to the relevant item also appeared in the trading system.
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[Water of Life: Spring water containing rich life force. Direct consumption can cure all diseases, prolong life, and strengthen the body. Long-term consumption can also promote human evolution. Please explore more effects on your own.]
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"This is good stuff!"
Su Yi’s eyes couldn’t help but light up.
Leaving aside everything else, just the fact that it could cure all diseases was enough for this Water of Life to sell for a sky-high price on Blue Star!
However, the system didn't mention the usage method and dosage required for the Water of Life.
It was hard to determine the value of this one bottle of Water of Life.
Besides, when it came to business, one naturally had to maximize their own interests as much as possible.
As such, after pondering for a moment, Su Yi stared at Vivi, or rather, at a certain accessory on her head, and said:
"Fruits, vegetables, and meat, if you need them, I can provide ten tons, but I'm afraid it’ll require a certain amount of time to prepare."
"As for this Water of Life, it's difficult for me to determine its value for the time being. I'm more inclined to trade for other items, such as gold."
"This bottle of Water of Life... I can use 50 tons of food to exchange for it. Of course, if after trying it I confirm that its value far exceeds this amount of food, I’ll definitely compensate you in the future. This clause can be written into the trade contract."
"Gold, huh..."
Vivi's delicate brows furrowed slightly, but she didn’t feel displeased.
The two worlds were completely different, and trading was a process of mutually probing each other's bottom lines.
She wasn't a glass heart*. She wouldn't fall out with him just because he questioned the effects of the Water of Life.
What was more, there was indeed something fishy about the Water of Life she gave him. It wasn't the original essence of life from the Elven Race's Moon Lake, but a product that had been diluted. In her opinion, its effect was actually just average and truly not worth that much food.
After a moment of thought, combining it with the value of gold in her own world, Vivi quoted a price that went against the spirit of chivalry:
"One kilogram of gold in exchange for 10 tons of food."
"As for this bottle of Water of Life, it’ll be used to trade for an extra 10 tons of fruits, vegetables, and meat."
After speaking, she stared into Su Yi's eyes and said very seriously:
"This is my bottom line."
Upon hearing this, Su Yi's breath couldn't help but hitch.
Calculated according to the current gold price of over 550 yuan per gram, the market price of one kilogram of gold wouldn’t be less than five hundred and fifty thousand yuan. Even if sold through special channels, he could still get at least four to five hundred thousand in hand!
And the price of ten tons of food...
Their food processing factory purchased some old grains. The purchase price of flour was less than two thousand five hundred per ton, and rice was even cheaper, less than two thousand yuan per ton.
Ten tons of rice could sell for twenty thousand yuan at most.
This one transaction netted him a profit of more than twenty times. It was simply a bloody profit, alright!
"Deal!"
Su Yi nodded decisively.
Of course, he could probably also guess that since the other party could offer such a price, it meant that gold might not be rare in her world.
At least, there was more of it there than on Blue Star.
Although Vivi verbally said that this was her bottom line, as long as he continued to push down, he should be able to earn a bit more.
However, when doing business, it was enough as long as you yourself were making a profit.
The current price was already an extremely terrifyingly high profit for him. There was no need to continue testing her bottom line.
He hadn't become so greedy that he would desperately squeeze his business partner just to obtain more benefits for himself.
A healthy development model was one where everyone had something to gain.
Upon hearing this, Vivi also visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
As the princess of the Blazing Sun Empire and a genius in both magic and martial arts, she was really not very good at doing business.
Seeing that the other party agreed so quickly, she now saw Su Yi in a bit more favorable light in her heart and decisively took out the gold she had already prepared.
This thing was also valuable in her world. Before starting the trade, she had already made thorough preparations and had naturally brought these along.
Thud~!
A heavy small wooden box appeared on the desk.
"These are all spoils of war I once obtained in a dragon's lair. They’re all gold with very little impurities."
As she spoke, she opened the box.
Inside was a pile of glittering gold coins, nearly blinding Su Yi's eyes.
Of course, though fifty kilograms of gold sounded like a lot, in reality, the density of gold was relatively large, so it didn't look like much visually.
It didn't even fill up the small wooden box.
Su Yi glanced at the information displayed by the trading platform. It was indeed gold, and it was pure gold with a purity exceeding 99.99%!
But looking at the gold coins one by one, he couldn't help but think of another problem.
All of this gold was in the form of coins, and there were also some complex reliefs carved on them.
If he took them back like this, how to sell them would be a big problem for him.
He couldn't possibly buy a set of equipment to melt all this gold himself, right?
After thinking for a moment, Su Yi directly expressed his concerns to Vivi.
This sort of worry didn’t need to be hidden. The existence of the trading platform was definitely their biggest secret in their respective worlds for members like them.
After Vivi obtained the food from him, she would also have to find a way to conceal the origin of the food. As such, she expressed great understanding of the problem he had mentioned and immediately said:
"That’s simple. You can have them turn into any shape you want."
As soon as her voice fell, her crimson eyes seemed to... no, it wasn’t just seeming, they really ignited with flames!
Su Yi only felt a terrifying aura erupt from her body.
The next moment, scorching flames appeared out of thin air, instantly melting the pile of gold coins into a ball of molten gold, which was then held by an invisible force and floated in the air.
The trading platform didn’t allow mutual attacks. There were very strict contract clauses that prohibit it.
But it wouldn’t prevent members from using their own abilities within the space.
When Su Yi had heard Vivi mention things like the Elven Race and the Water of Life before, he could roughly guess that the other party probably came from a fantasy world of magic.
But seeing this kind of supernatural power with his own eyes, the shock it brought him was still difficult for him to describe in words.
"Awesome!"
After the shock, he could only give her this one word evaluation.
Vivi, on the other hand, tilted her head and asked:
"What style of gold is easier to sell on your side?"
Su Yi came back to his senses and quickly described the appearance of a gold yuanbao** to her.
He had originally thought that Vivi probably had some similar magic that could control the molten gold to become the shape she wanted.
So he never expected that after roughly figuring out what a gold yuanbao looked like, Vivi would actually extend her slender, fair hands directly into the suspended, viscous molten gold and quickly hand-sculpt a large, solid yuanbao for him.
Su Yi: ......
What kind of ruthless iron hands were these, hey?!
When you were learning magic, did no one ever tell you that you weren't allowed to use magic in front of a Muggle***?
......
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*A Chinese internet slang term for someone who is overly sensitive, fragile, and easily offended.
*A traditional boat-shaped gold or silver ingot used as currency in ancient China. They’re a classic symbol of wealth and prosperity. I just don’t know why the MC went with that shape instead of a bar.
*For those who don't know, this is a reference to the term for non-magic people in the Harry Potter series. The author really used the Chinese term for it in the raw.
T/N - That went quite well for the MC, I’d say. This Vivi really doesn’t know how to trade, telling him her bottom line directly like that. But I can understand and respect the MC for not pushing her further even though he totally could have. He was already making massive profits out of this deal, so no need to squeeze his trade partner even further just to earn her ire.
Also, I wonder if he can trade for magic and shit? Now that would be awesome.