Chapter 405: 30% Discount
It wasn't really because the old man looked down upon Zen. Only that judging from his eyes and expressions, his behavior seemed too weird.
The old man had been selling raw materials his entire life. He was considered one of the most famous figures in the World Commercial Alliance, Cloudy City Branch. He was familiar with the magic array experts and runic experts of Cloudy City. The most famous weapon refiners and alchemists were his acquaintances.
He was even friends with some magic array experts of Cloud Hall, as a result of which he also had a knowledge of runes.
Magic arrays were composed of runes and it wasn't an easy thing to learn to draw the runes.
Usually, young apprentices who wanted to learn to draw runes were required to have a mentor, who taught them the art in person. In a way, the mentors prepared them with all kinds of tools right in the beginning. It was strange for new apprentices to buy the tools by themselves. After the purchase and some practices, as soon as they accumulated certain experience and knowledge, they required better rune pens.
It wasn't difficult to guess Zen was a brand-new freshman. Learning runes seemed just like a passing fancy for this young man. With his little knowledge of runes, he might have thought drawing runes was simply just to draw some brushes with a pen.
Some young men thought impulsively and wanted to learn new skills immediately in the spur of the moment. In reality, only a few could manage to acquire the skills successfully. The old man had seen many such agog freshmen. As far as he knew, if they didn't bear with the training, the materials they bought from him would simply go to waste. This was precisely the reason why he didn't want to entertain Zen's requirements.
But Zen ignored his attitude and spoke seriously, nodding his head, “Yes, I want to learn runes. I want to try some simple ones first. Here is the list of materials, and could you please help me prepare them?”
He handed out the list to the old man. Everything on the list was based on the cyan dragon's request.
According to the cyan dragon, these materials were only to draw the basic divine textures.
However, even the lowest level of divine texture seemed to require abnormally expensive materials. Even though he wasn't particularly aware of the price of the materials, he knew that these materials must cost a lot.
Casually skimming through Zen's list, the old man's expression changed drastically.
Angrily, he said, “These are the materials you want to use to practice drawing runes? Are you kidding me? Get out! Leave, right away! And don't waste my time!”
He got up from his chair, almost pushing Zen out of the room.
Zen was shocked. What kind of behavior was this? The old man's sudden outburst pissed him off and he continued to stand firmly. “It is not reasonable for you to reject a customer's request. You sell the materials and I pay you, that's how it works. Why are you chasing me out?”
The old man scowled with eyes glaring at Zen. Impatiently, he responded, “The materials you are asking for are used to make four-star runes. They aren't used by ordinary runic experts! Didn't you say you needed them for simple ones? How do you plan to use such high-level materials to draw simple runes? Just because you are a customer you think you can cheat me!”
Zen was dumbfounded! Right at that moment, he heard the cyan dragon's voice in his mind, “Oh, really? Well, my divine texture is comparatively higher than your world's runes. It seems like the requirement of four-star runes here is the same as that of our one-star, basic level texture.”
In a nutshell, in Zen's world, if the runes came from the experiences summarized by the generations of runic experts for thousands of years, the divine texture was the accumulation of the upper world's billion years of practice. The two things were totally different in terms of conception, the way of inheriting and the effects.
It was like a kid who just learned to speak trying to understand the profound knowledge of a scholar.
Despite the lag between the runes here and the divine texture, Zen felt speechless at the old man's refusal. How were the higher-level materials different? What would happen if he used these materials for basic practice?
He was ready to take the risk and made up his mind at last.
“I would like to buy these materials,” he said, "And this is no trickery. I will pay you the full amount.
I don't understand why you would refuse the trade in front of your eyes. You sell, and I pay. That is all that should matter to you."
“Shut up, boy! I don't want to sell you these materials! Even if you pay double the amount, I won't sell them. I don't want my materials to be wasted by irresponsible, young men like you.” This old man truly had dignity. Any other man in his place would only care about the benefits, apart from trying to maintain a good personal relationship with his customers. It was rare for a seller to push his customers away due to his own self-righteousness. He sat back in his chair, determining not to sell anything to Zen. Ignoring his presence, he resumed investigating the ancient jade as he was before Zen had appeared with his illogical demands.
Zen was in a dilemma. He did not know how to deal with him. His shop was the biggest in the market. Disappointed, he decided to step out and take his chances somewhere else. Right then, the cyan dragon's voice spoke in his head again, “Don't leave, Zen! I have a solution to convince him to sell you the materials.”
“Really? What do you propose?” Zen asked with eyes wide open.
“Do you see the ancient jade in his hand? It is a piece of phoenix ancient jade. The texts recorded above are in ancient phoenix words. This old man has no way of understanding and decoding the words written on it. If you tell him the meaning of these words, maybe he will sell the materials to you,” the cyan dragon explained.
“Hmmm... that is a fair point, but I do not know the meaning of those words either.” Zen rolled his eyes despondently.
“Hmmmm...” the cyan dragon replied, sensing Zen's impatience. He explained further, “I know you can't read the ancient phoenix language, Zen, but I can!”
The longevity of the dragon was beyond Zen's imagination! Not only did he know the ancient phoenix language, which itself was rare, there were only a few languages he didn't know.
Zen was pleased and impressed at once! He knew he had to adopt some strategies to get his way. He walked back to the counter, but the old guy didn't want to talk to him at all now. Zen had no choice but to cry out the words that the dragon fed him. “Use the fire generated from the stars as a sacrifice in the lotus lake, praying for prosperity in the next life...”
The old man was deeply absorbed in studying the words inscribed on the ancient jade. It didn't matter to him whether Zen was there or not. These ancient jades in his hand held high historic and collection value and were very hard to be evaluated.
With that, the texts on the jade only added to its preciousness and original value. It was said that the ancient jade of the phoenix clan had been passed down from the ancient phoenix nationality. If people could decipher the characters, it would benefit the refinement greatly.
However, it was extremely difficult to decipher these words. This old man had been trying to study the words for more than one and a half years. He had even compared them to some ancient books in his collection, and yet had only been able to understand a few words.
When Zed walked to him again, he got very irritated upon being disturbed and immediately frowned at him. He had just opened his mouth to scold him when he was cut off by Zen. His expression changed from annoyed to bewildered the moment he heard Zen reciting the words that matched with the words he had decoded already.
He was tongue-tied, flabbergasted, and shocked! His mouth fell open in surprise as he stared Zen's moving mouth. Gaining his senses, he got up and started to listen intently.
But at the same time, Zen stopped and shut his mouth, giving a gentle smile to the old man. Steadily and silently, he kept smiling at the old man.
“This..” the old man said as he reached for the jade, lifting it to Zen's eye level. “Can you... er... Young man, will you translate the remaining for me?” He asked with purity in his eyes. He truly was an honest man, who respected his materials, his trade, and his study. According to Zen's translation, the old man understood that these words did not speak of any opportunities. This jade seemed to be buried with an inscription about the memory of a dead person.
Even though he had already been certain of this, he still wanted to know the meaning given that he had invested so much time studying it. Knowing the meaning would only add to his dedication. The translation would also increase the price manifold, if he were to sell it.
Noticing the old man's piqued interest, Zen smiled and started to walk toward the exit jokingly.
The man who was trying to drive him away just two minutes ago, now ran eagerly to make him stay.
Zen had only translated the text partially. How could he let him leave!
“Young man! Listen to me!” he shouted behind him. “Don't be so impatient. Come and sit down. Let's talk some more, shall we?” He clutched his sleeve and pulled at it.
When the owners of the surrounding shops noticed this, they were surprised. They found this utterly strange! They had been doing business in this city beside him for many years and were all very familiar with his unreliable temper. He prided himself because of his reputation in the World Commercial Alliance. Some people even liked to say he dealt with people as if his eyes were located at the top of his head! They had never seen him being so kind and desperate with anyone! How could he forget his pride and plead to a young man, a mere freshman?
Zen kept trying to leave, even though that wasn't his intention. The materials on the list that the cyan dragon had provided could also be purchased in Cloudy City. But if he could buy everything in the Cloud Hall shopping area, why bother? He simply wanted the old man to ask him a few more times to come back.
The old man courteously brought a cane chair for Zen to sit on, then handed him a cup of warm, fragrant tea.
Seeing that Zen had become less reluctant to stay, he said, “Young man, I was wrong! Would you please translate the second half of the jade text for me?”
It was as if someone had solved a riddle he had been trying to solve all this time! Now, Zen had come and told him the solution, but only half of it. How could that not instill a desperate sense of curiosity in him? Half knowledge would only make him sad. He needed to know the rest to attain balance and peace of mind, or his heart would never stop jumping up and down. Part of him wished Zen hadn't told him anything at all. At least, that way, he wouldn't have been on edge like this.
Unlike the old man, Zen was much more composed. He picked up his teacup and sipped from it slowly, pausing before he put forth his cards. “Yes. I do not mind telling you the rest at all, but on one condition,” he said.
“What is it?” The old man asked immediately.
“I want to buy all the materials that are in the list, and I want a 30% discount,” Zen said firmly, smiling innocently.
The old man fell silent, a trace of hesitation appearing on his face. The materials Zen was asking for were not cheap. The old man was only a steward in the World Commercial Alliance and didn't have the authority to do a bargain like that. If he provided the discount, it would be at a personal loss.
But his wish to know the meaning of the text meant much more than the loss. He thought of all the pros and cons and finally made up his mind. Gritting his teeth, he looked at Zen with a convulsed expression and said, “Okay, that's a deal!”
He had done a quick calculation in his mind, concluding that he would pay for the loss entailed from his own pocket. Anyway, the sales price after the discount was only slightly lower than the cost. He wouldn't have to pay a lot to make up for it. Besides, he was convinced that it was worth knowing the meaning of the text.