I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense - Chapter 430
Chapter 430: Chapter 431: A Fool with a Lot of Money
“One hundred thousand packs?”
The shopkeeper was startled, his eyes surreptitiously glancing at Li Xiaobai.
Li Xiaobai squinted his eyes, smiling and said, “Don’t cause trouble here, ‘Hua Zi’ is very expensive. If you say you want to buy ten packs, I might believe you, but one hundred thousand packs, that’s just boasting.”
“Words are unnecessary, here are one hundred thousand top-grade Spirit Stones, go ahead and count them.”
The leader of the black-robed figures was very indifferent and did not say much, directly tossing a Space Ring as he spoke.
“This…”
The shopkeeper took a brief look, then again shocked, the ring actually contained one hundred thousand top-grade Spirit Stones. Indeed a generous gesture; who exactly is this deity who can produce one hundred thousand top-grade Spirit Stones all at once?
The instinctive desire for Spirit Stones nearly made him rush to deliver the ‘Hua Zi’, but then he remembered the notice about the price increase he had just received, and his mind immediately understood, Young Master Li was about to start shearing the wool.
Wool comes from the sheep’s back; naturally, it was time to start from the consumer’s side.
“Sorry, the price of ‘Hua Zi’ in our store has increased. Now it’s two top-grade Spirit Stones per pack, which means your Spirit Stones can only buy fifty thousand packs of ‘Hua Zi’.”
The shopkeeper said, pointing to the wall nearby.
The group of black-robed figures was taken aback. Upon closer inspection, indeed, there was a price increase, and it had happened before they arrived, not something done on the spur of the moment.
“But why has the price doubled in just two days when it used to be one top-grade Spirit Stone just a few days ago?”
The leader of the black-robed figures frowned and asked.
The shopkeeper glanced at Li Xiaobai, who gestured nonchalantly, showing no intention of joining the conversation.
“Cough cough, to tell the truth, the production cost of ‘Hua Zi’ is extremely high, selling it for one top-grade Spirit Stone was almost at cost price. Although it’s very popular, we aren’t making much profit. The reason it was so cheap a few days ago was just to quickly capture the market.”
“Now that we’ve captured the market, it’s natural to start raising prices, after all, we sellers need to earn Spirit Stones too, right?”
The shopkeeper said with a beaming smile, starting to use his sales skills to the fullest, throwing around professional jargon and bewildering the black-robed figures completely.
The leader of the black-robed figures looked stunned; indeed, what the shopkeeper said made sense. They had thought the same previously, which is why they had been selling at cost price. They hadn’t expected that shops in the Holy City followed the same tactics.
“Hmm, the boss is quite sincere. Since the price has increased, then we should pay more. Here are the remaining one hundred thousand top-grade Spirit Stones, please have a look.”
The black-robed figure nodded, not lingering on the issue, quickly took out another one hundred thousand top-grade Spirit Stones, and handed them to the shopkeeper.
He was on a mission and did not want to waste time wrangling.
“Hehe, thank you for your patronage.”
The shopkeeper was so happy he was almost blooming with joy, as he had just gained an extra one hundred thousand top-grade Spirit Stones for nothing, all thanks to Young Master Li’s great wisdom. Young Master Li, truly a divine being!
Watching the black-robed figures leave, Li Xiaobai smiled lightly.
“What do you think, does that count as a big customer?”
“It does, of course, it does. Young Master Li, you really are prophetic, to have foreseen such a fat sheep coming our way.”
“Hehe, it was just a small matter, not worth mentioning. Now that we’ve sheared the wool, we can change the price back.”
Li Xiaobai said cheerfully. With this move, the first battlefield had suffered a heavy loss.
Rising, he leisurely went upstairs to enjoy the comfort of the bathhouse.
Inside the first battlefield.
Mei Changqing and Wang Guan personally supervised their subordinates in the construction of the store.
Tangneng First-class was reopening, the shopkeepers were busy back and forth, starting to rebuild the bathhouse.
“City Lord Mei, this time, whether it’s the water source or the bricks used to build the bathhouse, everything was directly taken from within the Holy City, guaranteed to be effective.”
Several cultivators declared emphatically.
In the shops of Holy City, everything that could be moved had been emptied out, not even a single stool was left behind.
“Hmm, let’s see the effects.”
Mei Changqing nodded slightly. Although the method was a bit crude, it was fine as long as the results were good. Everything from the building materials to the water source and its quality had been transported from within Holy City, so he assumed it should have the corresponding efficacy.
However, when a group of cultivators walked in again, full of doubts, his hopes were shattered.
“I swear…”
“Wasn’t it forbidden to open these kinds of shady shops within the city walls?”
“Do you think we’re fools, shopkeeper?”
“Do I look like someone easy to bully?”
“Shopkeeper, today you’re doomed. I don’t want any explanations. Brothers, smash this crooked shop!”
“Attack!”
After a brief silence for a minute, Tangneng First-class in the city went into an uproar. The shop kept upsetting the cultivators with its deceitful practices, and now they had completely lost their temper.
Waves of formidable pressure swept through, the shop was destroyed beyond recognition. The shopkeeper was terrified, trembling in the corner, too scared to speak. He really didn’t understand why it was still not working; all the materials were original, so why wasn’t there any effect?
“Is this what you assured me would be absolutely fine?”
Mei Changqing’s face turned green. It was just a matter of transporting a bathhouse, yet it was ridden with problems. Was it really that difficult?
“I didn’t keep you all around just to loaf on the job. Every one of you is so inept at handling things; I really want to throw you all into the frontiers to feed the Flesh Mountain!”
Mei Changqing looked chillingly cold.
“City Lord, please calm your anger. We will immediately find out what the problem is!”
A group of black-robed individuals shrank back, quickly leaving to check their respective shops.
“City Lord, I think it’s not their fault. It must have something to do with Li Xiaobai leaving a trick up his sleeve. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have allowed us to take the bathhouse’s resources without any precautions,” Wang Guan said from the side.
“Li Xiaobai is not a simple man, his anti-counterfeit work is well done. Leave Tangneng First-class for now, how is Huazi’s research progressing?” Mei Changqing’s expression softened considerably.
“There should be some progress by now.”
“Let’s go check out Huazi’s shop. If those fools are still selling at cost price, I swear I will slaughter them!”
A few minutes later, in front of a certain quality goods shop, a group of cultivators were arguing with reason.
“Why are you selling it so expensive?”
“Do you think I haven’t been to Holy City? The Spirit Stone there is clearly only one top-grade Spirit Stone per packet, why have you raised the price to three? Isn’t that taking advantage of honest people?”
“Exactly, do you think I’m an idiot? Or are you saying your shipping costs are two top-grade Spirit Stones?”
The shopkeeper’s face was full of bitterness.
“There’s something you don’t understand, esteemed guests. This Huazi is also imported from Holy City, and today the fine goods shops there have raised their prices. A pack of Huazi now sells for two top-grade Spirit Stones. We can’t just not make any profit on our small business, can we?”
“We hope for your understanding!”
“Nonsense, I’ve just come back from Holy City and know nothing of any price hike. Don’t believe these crooks, folks. The Huazi from Holy City has always been one top-grade Spirit Stone per pack, there has never been talk of a price increase. This dishonest merchant clearly wants to fleece us while having the gall to seem righteous—beat him!”
