Nearly a hundred people were standing outside the hotel. They were all servants of the guests on the desert tour. Due to limited rooms, they could only stay outside and wait for their master to come out. It was much safer inside than for servants like them who were mostly warriors. Wang Xiaohai could see that the hotel manager was a man with the strength of a knight.
There was also a row of steam carriages waiting for the guests inside. Countess Daly, supported by a slightly older housekeeper, stepped onto her exclusive steam carriage. Her steam carriage was painted pink and was a bit small. It was a small steam carriage with only two seats - four large wheels, a steel furnace in the front, and a roof. The appearance was simple, and the driver also worked part-time as a coal miner, etc.
"How come everyone has a steam car? It's so cool!" Wang Xiaohai said, pulling over the hotel manager who was standing by the door to see them off. "Do you know where I can buy one? How much is one?"
"Sir, would you like to buy something?" the hotel manager said. "I know there's a chain store here that owns a steam engine factory. They sell, repair, and recycle steam engines. The price of a steam engine ranges from a few thousand taels to a hundred thousand taels. Just walk northeast from here, about three kilometers away, and you'll see it."
Wang Xiaohai estimated that a steam locomotive was a bit expensive. Of course, for the average person, based on the exchange rate between silver and Qingliu City, a typical sedan in Qingliu City was worth just over four hundred taels of silver. However, this also had to do with the production technology of the time. With that kind of technology, the labor and raw materials required to build a steam locomotive were several times higher than in Qingliu City. But for him, it wasn't that expensive. It was all just dirt, anyway. The gold he had just thrown was enough to buy a small steam locomotive.
Wang Xiaohai slowly walked towards the steam car vendors. He could have reached the location in a second, but doing so would have exposed his identity and alerted the enemy, causing all the staff to flee. Was he expected to dig on his own? Regardless of whether he could unearth the treasure, even the curse within was unknown to him. Even if he wasn't afraid of the red sand, there was no guarantee that there weren't other dangers. He recalled his encounter with Wu Ciren in Yueying Country. He had been so reckless. If he hadn't learned the secret technique, he would have likely died at Wu Ciren's hands!
If Wang Xiaohai were to dig, he wouldn't have carefully excavated a large pile like others, then sent a bunch of workers wearing radiation-proof clothing to carefully wipe away the virus-infected red sand. He simply transformed into a giant hand, grasped it downward, and then—the treasure shattered! That's right, it shattered. If it was a treasure as fragile as glass, then all the hard work and effort would be wasted. It would be better to go to sleep!
Passing through the roaring steam locomotives, Wang Xiaohai arrived at the place the hotel manager mentioned - a simple wooden wall with a silver-plated sign of "Dingwen Steam Company" hanging on it. The sign was fixed to the wooden wall with nails. The wood was of different sizes, and there were holes everywhere in the wall. Looking through the holes, you could vaguely see countless polished and brand-new steam locomotives neatly arranged inside the wall. It was roughly estimated that there were at least one hundred steam locomotives of different types!
Wang Xiaohai walked towards the half-open door, which was also made of thick wood. He pushed it open and found that behind the door were more than a dozen steam company workers debugging and inspecting the car.
"Hello, what can I do for you?" A man with oil-stained clothes and a wrench in his hand walked towards Wang Xiaohai.
There was already a faint smell of engine oil in the steam company. When this person walked towards Wang Xiaohai, the smell of engine oil became even stronger, making people sneeze uncontrollably.
"Who are you?" Wang Xiaohai asked.
"I'm the chief engineer of this branch office," the man with the wrench replied. "Do you need to buy a car, sell a car, get it repaired, or find someone?"
"Oh, I'm here to buy a car." Wang Xiaohai said, "Can you introduce it to me?"
The chief engineer of Dingwen Steam Branch was stunned for a moment, then said quickly, "Welcome to see the car. I'll call a salesperson to show you around."
"No need, you can introduce it to me." Wang Xiaohai thought for a moment and continued, "No need for introduction either, just let me try how to drive it, and the quality is acceptable."
"Okay, please come with me." The chief engineer wiped his hands on his clothes and extended his hand to invite Wang Xiaohai to come over and see the car.
The two walked side by side past the steam carriages.
"Why isn't it painted?" Wang Xiaohai asked.
"That's right. Our steam company will discuss with customers who are willing to buy steam cars and customize various car paints and patterns according to their preferences." The chief engineer explained.
"Oh, then take me to choose." Wang Xiaohai said.
The two started test driving the first car in the first row. The chief engineer asked other staff members to bring the car keys. Wang Xiaohai knew how to drive the car after just one look. He had a talent for driving.
"Not bad, as long as it can be driven and is not broken." Wang Xiaohai tried almost a hundred cars, big and small, with various functions.
The chief engineer was puzzled. "Usually, people who come here alone buy steam cars for personal or family use, but this guy is even trying out steam trucks and steam excavators. What kind of car does he want to buy? Or is he just here to test drive it for fun and then say goodbye!"
The chief engineer has worked in the steam company for many years and has seen many people who come to buy steam cars. Generally, few people decide to buy on the spot. Most of them will test drive the car and then go back to test it again. They will make the purchase after careful consideration.
"Which car do you like?" the chief engineer asked. "If you pay the deposit now, we can reserve it for you and not sell it to anyone else. Our steam company's cars are very popular, and many of them will be sold out in a few days. It will be difficult to get a spot if you don't reserve one."
Wang Xiaohai knew the chief engineer was lying. He knew they must have a lot of the same model, definitely not just one. But this was a common sales tactic. He didn't bother to expose the limited edition and limited model, and instead said directly, "I've already made up my mind."
"Oh - which one is it?" asked the chief engineer. "If it's convenient, you can pay a deposit first, one tenth of the price will be enough, then we will help you paint and debug, and ensure that the car is in the best condition when you pick it up." As long as the deposit is paid, most people will buy the car, and rarely ask for a refund of the deposit.
"Let me think... I'll buy all the cars I tried just now!" Wang Xiaohai said, "Can you calculate how much they cost?"
"You...just said you were going to buy them all?" The chief engineer scratched his ears, as if he thought he had misheard. "Is that true?"
"That's right, buy them all. Calculate the price quickly and then come with me to withdraw the money." Wang Xiaohai said.
"There are nearly a hundred cars here, some expensive and some cheap. The average price is probably 20,000 taels of silver per car, so the estimated value is around 2 million." The chief engineer was a little excited. This was a deal he had negotiated, and with a 1% commission, he still had 20,000 silver. "We'll confirm the exact price with the accountant and the sales manager later. We'll handle it in those two steam cars in the back."
Wang Xiaohai and the chief engineer walked over together. The chief engineer felt that the sun was shining and the temperature was comfortable today.
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