That resounding declaration, "This official wants that dragon," was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating ripples.
The atmosphere in front of the sugar figurine stall suddenly shifted from bustling street life to an awkward, deathly silence.
All eyes, like searchlights, were fixed on Xiao Che, their gazes filled with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief that he was an idiot.
Xiao Che was still immersed in the anticipation of soon having the "Dragon Sugar Man," completely unaware of the social disaster his words had caused. He even slightly raised his chin, adopting an arrogant posture that seemed to say, "Wrap him up for me now."
Lin Wanwan felt a throbbing sensation in her forehead.
She no longer cared about her manners. With quick reflexes, she grabbed Xiao Che's hand, which was still pointing at the "dragon," and pulled it down sharply!
"Ouch!" Caught off guard, Xiao Che was pulled so hard that he stumbled and almost bumped into the stall.
"What are you doing?" he turned around with displeasure, lowering his voice to question.
Lin Wanwan practically gritted her teeth as she dragged him aside, warning him in a voice colder than a Siberian blizzard:
"Master Xiao! Please remember, your current identity is that of a merchant from Jiangnan, not the Emperor! If you dare to utter another 'I' or 'dragon' again, we will immediately turn back and return home!"
Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was like an ice needle, piercing Xiao Che's ears with pinpoint accuracy.
Especially the last line, "Let's go home," was the ultimate weapon, instantly putting the arrogant "Master Xiao" to his knees.
Only then did he belatedly realize the strange looks he was receiving.
Above his head, a cartoon version of himself was being scolded by a cartoon version of Lin Wanwan, who was pulling his ear, with a line of pitiful little words next to him: "I know, so fierce.jpg".
"Ahem!" Xiao Che cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly, finally managing to switch out of the role of "Emperor" a little.
He turned back dejectedly to the old stall owner, who was already somewhat frightened and at a loss, and tried to make his tone sound...approachable.
"Boss, how much is this...this sugar figurine?" He pointed to the dragon sugar figurine, finally not making a mistake again.
Seeing that his attitude had softened, the old stall owner breathed a sigh of relief and quickly put on a smile, holding up five fingers: "Sir, this is a complicated dish, it will cost fifty coins."
Fifty coins?
Xiao Che's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
"文"? What kind of unit of measurement is that?
In his more than twenty years of life, he only came into contact with two kinds of currency: one was the gleaming gold ingot, and the other was the gleaming silver. Below that, there were the silver notes used to reward his servants.
As for "wen," which refers to copper coins, what are those? He had only seen the word in memorials from the Ministry of Revenue; in reality, he didn't even know what copper coins looked like.
He only remembered one thing—Wanwan wouldn't let him use the gold ingot.
If we can't use gold ingots, then we can only use silver notes.
Xiao Che quickly calculated in his mind.
He remembered that Lin Wanwan had only spent a few coins on those several steamed buns. This sugar figurine cost fifty coins…that sounds…quite expensive?
No, I can't let the stall owner realize I'm a "fat sheep".
So, Xiao Che pondered for a moment, and then made a decision that he thought was very shrewd, but was actually incredibly foolish.
He pulled out the few remaining silver notes from his pocket after Lin Wanwan had "confiscated" them. He took out the smallest denomination note and handed it over.
That was a... one hundred taels of silver note.
Then, in an extremely generous, even somewhat magnanimous tone, he said to the stall owner:
Keep the change, please.
"..."
If Xiao Che's words, "This official wants that dragon," merely froze the air...
So, when he handed over a hundred taels of silver notes and said "Keep the change," it was like detonating a depth charge in the still air!
The entire morning market seemed to have been muted.
All eyes were fixed intently on the seemingly light yet incredibly heavy silver note in Xiao Che's hand!
One hundred taels!
What does that mean?
For ordinary people, even if they save every penny their whole lives, they might not be able to save up such a huge sum of money!
And this ordinary-looking "outsider" with a small mustache is actually willing to spend one hundred taels of silver to buy a sugar figurine worth fifty coins?!
And...and you said we didn't need to look anymore?!
This is insane!
This world must be crazy!
The stall owner was the first person to recover from this huge shock.
His reaction was extremely intense.
His legs suddenly gave way, and with a thud, he knelt down on the ground!
He wasn't happy, he was terrified!
With tears streaming down his face, he began to kowtow to Xiao Che, his voice filled with fear and unease:
"Sir! Sir, please have mercy on me! You...you're going to kill me!"
He cried and explained, "Sir, this...this is a hundred taels of silver note! Don't even mention change, even if you sell my stall and my old life, I still can't make change! Please, please take the silver note back! I'll give you this sugar figurine, I don't need the money! Please, have mercy on me!"
The stall owner was genuinely scared.
He's been around for so many years and has seen all sorts of people, but he's never seen anyone spend money like this!
This isn't someone who came to buy anything! This is clearly some ignorant spoiled brat trying to amuse a commoner like him! If he dares to accept this banknote, and then the other person turns around and accuses him of extortion, he'll never be able to clear his name!
Xiao Che was completely dumbfounded.
He held the one hundred tael silver note, frozen in mid-air, looking completely bewildered.
What happened?
He gave money, so why did it scare the person to their knees?
Why are these informal trading methods so complicated?
Above his head, a cartoon figure held up a huge silver note, looking utterly bewildered. Opposite him, a group of tiny figures knelt on the ground, trembling, with a large caption next to them: "Why not?".gif
As more and more people gathered around, and the whispers and pointing fingers grew louder, Lin Wanwan, who had been in a state of "facepalm," knew that she could no longer pretend to be dead.
In her mind, ten thousand alpacas—no, ten thousand grass mud horses—galloped past.
Her heart was bleeding at that moment!
One hundred taels of silver! That's pure silver! Enough for an ordinary family to live comfortably for several years! And this spendthrift emperor didn't even blink an eye, wanting to use it to buy a five-cent sugar figurine!
This is outrageous! If he were to gain control of the finances, their "undercover mission" would likely be doomed to bankruptcy on the very first day!
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"
Lin Wanwan rushed forward, immediately putting on the most professional and apologetic smile.
She snatched the one hundred tael silver note back from Xiao Che's hand with lightning speed.
Then, while carefully folding the silver note and stuffing it back into her sleeve pocket, she explained to the stall owner who was still kneeling on the ground, "Uncle, please get up! It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! My... my husband, he... he's a little out of it. He just came from Jiangnan and doesn't know the customs of our capital. Please don't take it to heart!"
As she spoke, she quickly took out several copper coins she had prepared beforehand from her purse, counted out fifty coins, and stuffed them into the stall owner's hand.
"Fifty coins, please accept them!"
After doing all this, she didn't even take the dragon candy figurine. Instead, she grabbed Xiao Che, who was still in a dazed state of "Why don't you want it?", and turned to squeeze out of the crowd.
"Hey, sir, your sugar figurine!" the stall owner called out from behind.
"No, thank you!" Lin Wanwan replied without turning her head.
She grabbed Xiao Che and fled at a frantic pace, amidst countless strange gazes.
Only after she squeezed out of the crowd and turned into a deserted alley did she finally let go of the hand, lean against the wall, and gasp for breath.
Xiao Che, on the other hand, looked completely innocent and aggrieved.
He didn't understand why his generous payment had caused such a huge mess.
Looking at his naive and clueless expression, Lin Wanwan felt utterly exhausted.
She made a decision.
A crucial decision that would determine whether their journey could proceed smoothly.
She looked at Xiao Che and announced in an unprecedentedly serious tone:
“Master Xiao, it seems that before we officially set off, I must first give you a ‘must-learn course on survival in the martial world’.”
"The topic of the first lesson is—"
"How to spend money!"
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