Chapter Twenty-Seven: Aiming for a Thousand-Tael Bounty (Please recommend, favorite, and give a five-star rating)
"Deal." A sly glint flashed in Qin Zhining's eyes as she turned and walked toward the vegetable vendor's stall.
As I squatted down, I deliberately brushed my fingertips against the leaves of the frozen cabbage, and the fine white frost immediately turned into cool water droplets on my fingertips.
The frozen cabbage that has been frosted three times has 30% more natural energy in its veins than ordinary vegetables, so the system really got a great deal this time.
"Auntie, how much are these cabbages?" She casually fiddled with the cabbage leaves, glancing out of the corner of her eye at a few wilted cucumbers sitting at the old woman's feet.
The old woman rubbed her hands, which were red from the cold, and smiled, "Girl, you want some? These vegetables are grown in my backyard."
After three nights of frost, the stewed meat is at its most fragrant. If you're serious about buying, two pieces are five coins each, but you should still ask for a discount.
"I'll take them all."
Qin Zhining pointed to the pile of frozen cabbage, which numbered about thirty, and then pointed to the cucumbers. "Including these cucumbers, it'll be one hundred and thirty coins for you. How about that?"
The old woman was stunned, her rough hands rubbing against her apron repeatedly.
This pile of vegetables is worth at most one hundred coins, but the girl gave it thirty coins more than it should have.
Looking into Qin Zhining's clear eyes, her own eyes welled up with tears: "That's enough, that's too much. I'll give you the cucumber, it's free."
"Take it. It's so cold outside, and it's not easy for you to set up a stall."
Qin Zhining handed over the heavy copper coins, and felt a pang of sadness when her fingertips touched the cracks on the old woman's hand.
She called Qin Xiaoxiao over and bought a bamboo basket from a nearby grocery store. "Please help me put it in, and we'll carry it."
Qin Xiaoxiao responded with "Aba aba," her nose, red from the cold, twitching incessantly, but she straightened her back with all her might, like a little puppy protecting its owner.
The two carried the vegetable baskets and turned into a secluded alley. Qin Zhining asked Xiao Xiao to keep watch at the entrance of the alley, while she walked to the depths and stood against the wall.
"You can redeem it now."
She silently recited the mantra, and a semi-transparent energy barrier immediately appeared before her.
Pale blue light patterns flowed across the barrier, completely enveloping the vegetable basket.
Thirty frozen cabbages and cucumbers, exchanged for two hundred taels of silver as agreed.
Before the words were even finished, the vegetables in the basket suddenly transformed into specks of light, following the patterns of light as they entered the barrier. The next second, "thump, thump, thump—"
Forty silver ingots fell from the top of the barrier, striking the energy plate with a crisp clanging sound.
Each ingot gleamed with a cold, silvery light, and the edges of the five-ounce ingots still bore the fine patterns from the casting process.
Hahaha—not bad, this silver is of excellent quality.
Qin Zhining was even happier.
Reaching out, I picked up an ingot; the cool metallic touch spread along my fingertips, and its heavy weight made my wrist feel slightly sluggish.
She couldn't help but lower her head and bite down lightly, feeling the hard texture between her teeth, before belatedly laughing out loud.
It's real silver.
It seems that transactions between the interstellar era and the Great Qi Dynasty can be completed through space, and there are no obstacles to them.
[Exchange complete. Items have been stored in the interstellar warehouse, and 200 taels of silver have been transferred to the host's space.]
Just as he was putting the silver into the brocade box, the system suddenly issued a sharp alarm: [Warning! High-purity plant energy residue detected! Energy source location: Cucumber vine!]
Qin Zhining froze, and cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.
The alarm sounded exactly like the one that came from when we were smuggling energy plants into space and were targeted by patrol ships.
She suddenly squatted down and pulled back the withered vines, not caring that her fingers were numb from the cold.
Three slender-leaved plants were hidden at the bottom, their lanceolate leaves edged with fine serrations and their tips covered with a glistening white frost.
With a gentle touch of a fingernail, the frost particles instantly melted into a cool, fragrant vapor – it was Frost Spirit Grass!
The Interstellar Pharmacopoeia records a first-class rare energy plant that only grows in extremely cold environments, and its energy purity is ten times that of ordinary vegetables!
[Three Frost Spirit Grasses detected. Each grass can be exchanged for fifty taels of silver. Exchange now?] The system's mechanical voice sounded urgent.
"exchange!"
Qin Zhining's fingertips trembled as she watched the Frost Spirit Grass transform into a fluorescent glow and merge into the barrier, causing the three silver ingots to fall to the ground.
Three hundred taels was enough for her to gain a foothold in the Great Qi Dynasty.
Just as he tucked the silver into his pocket, Qin Xiaoxiao's urgent "Aba" came from the alley entrance.
Qin Zhining quickly walked out of the alley and bumped into Xiao Xiao, who was tugging at her clothes and gesturing towards the main street.
Looking in the direction she pointed, a crowd had gathered at the city gate, and the noisy discussions could be heard from afar.
"Have you heard? Grand Secretary Zhang's distant nephew is dying."
"Yes, I heard about it. Look, there's a notice posted at the city gate offering a reward of five hundred taels of silver for a successful cure, plus a large estate outside the city."
"I heard that the young master was feeling cold all over and had hard lumps under his skin. The doctors we invited were all at a loss... It seems like poisoning but it doesn't. Even the physician in Grand Secretary Zhang's mansion was helpless."
As Qin Zhining listened intently, the wood-element system in her mind suddenly buzzed—
[Keyword 'difficult-to-treat illness' detected; matching Wood-type healing ability library: Energy disorder, cold toxins fall into the category of treatable conditions.]
Her heart skipped a beat. Five hundred taels of silver plus a manor? She had barely warmed the three hundred taels she had just received when an even greater opportunity was presented to her.
As she led Qin Xiaoxiao by the hand toward the city gate, the coolness of the silver ingots on her fingertips seemed to carry warmth.
"Xiaoxiao, let's go make big money."
She looked down at the bewildered girl and smiled, her eyes gleaming with a determined light.
The vitality of the Great Qi Dynasty is not just about being able to exchange money for silver.
The master and servant soon arrived at the city gate.
Sure enough, a large white paper was posted on the city gate, which stated that the nephew of the Grand Secretary had contracted an unknown disease. A highly skilled physician was specially hired to treat him. The physician would be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver for effective treatment and one thousand taels of silver for complete cure. In addition, a ten-hectare manor outside the city would be given as a bonus. The physician would not go back on his word.
Qin Zhining thought to herself, "Grand Secretary Zhang is a veteran of three reigns. He has many capable and ambitious people around him. Even the doctor in his household is helpless. So, his nephew's illness must be quite serious."
"Auntie, are you selling these roosters?" Qin Zhining wanted to find out what was going on, so she struck up a conversation with an old woman next to her who was carrying two large roosters.
Seeing that she was a thin, frail girl, the old woman didn't think much of it and said, "Yes, my son is going to study at the county school, but he's short of tuition fees. I was thinking of selling two chickens to help him make up the difference."
[Ding... We've bought both of these human-raised roosters. They're three taels of silver each. Are you interested in selling them?] The space system was in a hurry. The thirty frozen cabbages and cucumbers we just put on the shelf were snapped up as soon as they were put up.
A single frozen cabbage costs fifty interstellar time tokens, which can be exchanged for silver in the Great Qi Dynasty—that's a huge sum of money.
Even at such an outrageously high price, it's still a hot commodity.
So, as long as you bring in these two roosters, you can make at least a hundred dollars.
Qin Zhining's purpose was not there; she only wanted to hear some useful information in this place, so she ignored Tongzi.
"Auntie, sell me these two roosters, I won't skimp on the price, fifty coins." To be honest, fifty coins for two not-so-fat chickens was indeed a high price.
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