diskusbooks Chapter 229 Jade
Chapter 229 Jade
The foreman of Cukenu struck a few crisp drumbeats, signaling that it was time to eat. No food was served here. Bai Zhi rinsed her hands in the river, shook her head to clear her mind, and said in a lighthearted tone, "Come on, I'll take you to eat meat buns."
There's a steamed bun shop not far from here that's really generous with the amount of meat; she'd been eyeing it since yesterday.
Nawu was quite satisfied with this, and she had a delicious meal every day while following Baizhi.
The steamed bun shop was a tiny mud hut, barely big enough to fit the kitchen inside, so the tables were set up outside. It was lunchtime, and the small hut was choking back the billowing white smoke, filling the street with the aroma of cooked dough and meat. Many people craved the smell, but few actually bought any, because the prices were twice as high as other shops.
The two found an empty table and sat down. Baizhi directed Nawu to order several steamers of large steamed buns filled with pure meat, and two bowls of local specialty soup. A passerby carrying a hoe gave a few pointers, and Nawu immediately snorted loudly, "He said we're spendthrifts, eating such expensive buns outside."
Bai Zhi burst out laughing: "They're just saying it's sour grapes because they can't have it. Ignore them."
“But the steamed buns here are really expensive. They were very expensive yesterday and the day before yesterday. We can’t save any money like this.” Nau propped her chin up with one hand and looked at the people setting up stalls on the street. “Ah, if we could find a piece of jade, we could get rich. Look, they can sell for up to 200,000 over there.”
Bai Zhi looked over and saw a well-dressed middle-aged man sitting on the side of the street, with a small wooden table in front of him, which looked to be made of good wood.
Nau continued, "If we can find a piece of jade, we can each have half. You can go back, and I can buy a lot of chicks to take home."
If she had a piece of jade, Bai Zhi thought, she could go find the spies who had infiltrated Salamander, take off her mask, and go home as soon as possible.
She really does have a piece of jade.
Right there in the pocket of his shirt, in a cloth bag, was a fine piece of jade meant to be used as a name seal.
The proprietress quickly brought out the steamed buns and soup. Bai Zhi grabbed a bun and started to eat it. The skin was thin and the filling was large. When she bit into it, oil gushed out. She squinted her eyes slightly with satisfaction and said indistinctly, "There's a war going on now. How could anyone be willing to pay so much money to buy jade?"
Nawu, while munching on a steamed bun, said, "This place is far from where the battle was fought. The jade must have been sold to the Great Yan. The people of the Great Yan like this. In the past, there were people who came to our village to buy jade."
Bai Zhi didn't reply, but took the soup and drank two mouthfuls, then sighed deeply, "It's so delicious."
In no time, the two of them devoured the food. The work here is always more strenuous in the afternoon than in the morning, so they have to eat their fill.
After Bai Zhi led Na Wu back, she found the atmosphere extremely tense, with everyone cursing and sighing. Na Wu went to inquire about the situation and returned to tell Bai Zhi angrily, "Prince Jing is truly a wicked person!"
Bai Zhi: "What happened?"
“Many of our warriors have been killed, killed in the city of Great Yan! The chief and Lady Ge don’t want any more warriors to die, so they have temporarily stopped the war and returned to Sun God Mountain.” As Nau spoke, she grabbed Bai Zhi’s hand. “Lady Ge is back, so she urgently needs clothes. Cu Ke Nu said she will deliver the clothes tomorrow. What should we do? We don’t have 30,000 Na Su. How will you get back?”
Bai Zhi looked at Na Wu quietly for a while, then said, "Na Wu, do you really want Salam to win?"
Nau's eyes widened: "Of course! If we win, we'll get lots of good land to farm and raise chickens. Don't you want to win?"
“…Of course I hope my country can win.” Bai Zhi released Na Wu’s hand and smiled. “I ate too much just now. I’m going to relieve myself. You wait for me here.”
Nau pouted: "I'm not doing any work. I'll do it when you come back. Go on, go on."
Bai Zhi took a few steps towards the outhouse, and after making sure no one was paying attention to her, she turned and headed in the direction of the jade collector she had just seen.
The jade collector remained seated, motionless. Bai Zhi took a few deep breaths, strode over to his table, and asked, "Can you speak the language of Great Yan?"
"Yes." The jade dealer smiled, his small eyes crinkling. "To do jade business, you must speak the Great Yan language. Do you have anything good, young lady?"
Bai Zhi took out her name seal from her bosom, showing only the top half, and held it up in front of the jade collector: "I found a piece of broken jade, what do you think it's worth?"
The jade collector examined the jade in Bai Zhi's hand for a long time, then suddenly widened his eyes, carefully looked it over from side to side, and then stretched out his wide sleeve and shook it: "Do you understand this?"
The phrase "a world hidden in the sleeve, negotiating prices by pulling hands" is something the original owner had read in a book. It describes how buyers and sellers negotiate prices by pinching their fingers inside their sleeves. The fact that this method of negotiation indicates that the item being discussed is quite valuable.
Bai Zhi reached into the jade collector's wide sleeve, and the jade collector quickly calculated a number. Bai Zhi gasped – 300,000.
The jade buyer lowered his voice and said, "This piece of yours is Tianmu Ice Jade, but unfortunately it's broken. This is the only price we can offer. If it were a whole piece, the price would double."
"I'll sell," Bai Zhi said immediately. She carefully put away the name seal, told the jade collector she'd be back later, and then quickly left. The jade collector called after her reluctantly, "Miss! You can ask around the whole city! I offer the best prices!"
By this time, most of the Taka people were at work. Bai Zhi wandered through several streets and found a quiet alley. She took out her name seal; the jade stone in her hand felt heavy, smooth, and warm.
"...As long as we can go back, the precious things will come again."
Bai Zhi took one last look at the name seal, then placed it on the ground, picked up a brick from the corner of the wall, channeled her inner strength, and smashed it down hard.
After an incense stick had burned, Bai Zhi and Shou Yuren completed their transaction. She carefully placed the 300,000 taels of silver in the inner pocket of her chest, along with a small wooden block adorned with twin flowers and a small cloth bag bearing her name seal.
The bag had deflated, leaving only a small piece of carved jade with carefully wiped dust off.
Despite carrying a large sum of money, Bai Zhi kept quiet and obediently went back to do the laundry, all the while enduring Na Wu's constant nagging. It wasn't until sunset, when everyone else had finished hanging their clothes and gone home, that Bai Zhi, hiding among the damp clothes under the clothesline, asked Na Wu, "Do you dare take the oxcart back by yourself?"
“Of course I dare! I’ve been here before, but they said I’m too weak for a child, and no one would hire me.” Nau suddenly realized what she meant and raised her voice, “Why did you make me go back by myself!”
"How much money do you think you need to make before you're willing to go back?"
"Hmm... Now you get a thousand, I get five hundred... I want to earn twenty thousand before I go back."
"Okay, reach out your hand."
Bai Zhi took out a handful of coins from her bosom and placed them in Na Wu's palm. This handful was about 30,000 Na Su, and Na Wu's small hand could barely hold it.