The house always wins; that statement is true everywhere.

Especially for a dealer like Xu Shi who uses the experience of his ancestors to beat up primitive people—isn't that beating up primitive people? The higher-ups of the Hualan Empire haven't even seen through the essence of the Sea God Stone transaction yet; their thinking levels are completely different.

Therefore, everything was under his control.

"Instruct all purchasing points to raise their purchase prices, increasing them by five to ten percent per day for each grade, making them as high as possible compared to the prices offered by the Royal Family and the Papacy."

He calmly instructed, "You can decide the exact number yourself, just make sure it doesn't look too fake... Also, change the standard unit of measurement when purchasing, from one hundred grams to fifty grams, and then reduce it to twenty grams in ten days."

"At the same time, we sent people to the royal family and the Papacy's outlets to buy Poseidon Stones, and then released them back into circulation to maintain liquidity and make the market look more prosperous."

"Finally, suppress the prices of all goods except gold, silver, and copper coins. If someone needs to barter, the price they pay must be higher than that of others."

"Yes... but wouldn't that require us to provide a lot of gold and silver as collateral?"

Pan Ling certainly wouldn't object to the bad master's plan; some of it was even something she had devised herself... But after briefly going over the details in her mind, she suddenly realized the problem.

"You don't need to worry about money. I'll give you as much as you want."

Xu Shi waved his hand dismissively. They had brought plenty of gold and silver; if it wasn't enough, they could just transport more from Night City. Anyway, communication had been restored, and a phone call would be all it took.

He really wasn't short of money. The City of Night Sin had long abandoned physical currency. Gold and silver were just metals used in manufacturing and had no purchasing power whatsoever. If anyone directly said, "I want to exchange gold and silver for something," they would be considered a fool.

But this new continent happens to still maintain this traditional way of trading, which is exactly what happened to him.

Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to launch this grand feast so easily.

"Besides, who told you that transactions always require money?"

He cleared his throat and looked at his foolish apprentice with interest before speaking again.

"Why?"

Little Ling was truly dumbfounded. "If not money, then what?"

She could tell that Xu Shi didn't mean bartering, but she really couldn't think of anything more specific.

Prepayment, futures... Xu Shi gave the answer in his mind, but he still kept it a secret aloud, "This issue is very complicated... You wouldn't be able to learn it even if I told you in a short time."

"I'm not that stupid, am I..."

Pan Ling muttered a complaint in a low voice.

"But you lack one of the most important qualities."

Xu Shi did not deny it, but still shook his head seriously.

What is it?

"It's sincere."

The wicked master bared his fangs. "The old saying goes that if you want to learn something, you have to sleep with your master first. You haven't even taken such an important lesson. It's really difficult for me to handle this."

"……master!"

The silly apprentice was stunned for a moment, then revealed an adorable look of exasperation, showing a rare hint of dissatisfaction with Xu Shi.

She really thought Xu Shi was hiding some secret! She was just about to listen attentively and take notes, but this is what she heard. It would be a lie to say she wasn't angry.

However, she wasn't completely angry. Her blushing was definitely partly due to shyness—after all, she was just a naive young girl experiencing her first love, how could she stand the casual flirting of an old scumbag like Xu Shi?

Most importantly, this child isn't entirely innocent; she's always imagining strange and inappropriate scenarios between herself and her master… However, this is the first time Xu Shi has actively flirted with her, so the situation is naturally different; otherwise, she wouldn't have instantly turned into a steampunk princess…

To be fair, Miss Xiaoling's situation is actually somewhat similar to Tang Shuang's back then, but it's definitely not as serious as that of Governor Tang. It's just that the difference in age and experience makes them look similar.

Normally, it's one thing to ask someone to serve you tea and water, or massage your shoulders and legs, but you can't stand being told things like this, you absolutely can't stand it!

"Okay, okay, I was just kidding."

Seeing her blushing face, Xu Shi couldn't help but laugh.

He didn't really place Pan Ling in Tang Shuang's position, but rather in Su Lin's position—as mentioned before, the silly apprentice was somewhat similar to Director Su, and as everyone knows, some people's greatest pleasure used to be teasing their childhood sweetheart maid.

So this is a bit of a nostalgic trip down memory lane, looking for a substitute... And as it turns out, teasing his silly apprentice does indeed make him happy.

"I'm just kidding you. You do lack something, but what you lack is experience. You haven't dealt with these things before."

However, he didn't forget the important matter and quickly put away his smile and said seriously, "So I'll teach you slowly... Of course, it would be best to wait until everything is stable before sending you to the City of Night Sin for a systematic study."

It must be said that although he is not a proper person, Xu Shi is quite dedicated to teaching his apprentices. Knowing that he is only a dabbler in this professional field, he might as well let Pan Ling receive some formal education so that he can make up for any shortcomings he has not considered.

"……oh."

The blush on Pan Ling's face subsided a little, and she nodded earnestly, "I've always wanted to visit my master's hometown too."

She could understand Xu Shi's good intentions, and she was genuinely happy to hear him say that. Moreover, thinking about it carefully, although her master was indeed unconventional in his daily life and often flirted with his wives without any regard for others... he didn't seem to have any real ill intentions towards her. This was the first time he had made such a verbal joke.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!