“Miss, have a look around and see if you find anything you like. I will give you a good bargain!”
The vendor introduced his goods enthusiastically. He would not say where he purchased his goods, but he would mention how expensive and valuable his merchandise had become. Listening to his sales pitch, one could be forgiven for giving in and making a purchase right then and there.
Jiang Yao took a glimpse at the merchandise displayed in his stall. There were not many things there, which were laid on a piece of cloth. They looked decent, but the most noticeable piece displayed would be a sword. It was decently sized, with rust stains here and there, making it look like it was indeed an ancient artifact.
“Miss, you like this sword?” The vendor noticed Jiang Yao’s sight that had lingered momentarily on the rusty sword. He continued, “I purchased this at a rural village far away. It has been told that in that village lived the descendants of a general from the Warring States Period. Many in the village practiced martial arts, and I got this sword from a very poor family there. Apparently, it has been passed down as a family heirloom for centuries. If you like it, how about I sell it to you for…”
He stopped right before mentioning the price, unsure of how much he should ask for.
He was in the business for a long time, but he had never seen such a young lady, who looked like she was just a little over eighteen, coming to check out his stall.
On one hand, he was afraid he would scare away his customer by asking for too high of a price. On the other hand, if the price were too low, he would not have made enough profit off it. It had been a few days since he had his first customer, of course he wanted to take advantage of it as much as possible.
“How much?” Jiang Yao noticed that the vendor was checking out her clothing and Moe in her arms. She knew that he was looking to give an amount based on how much she could afford.
The vendor flashed two of his fingers.
“Two hundred?” Jiang Yao asked.
“Two thousand! Two thousand! I bought this for one thousand and nine hundred dollars! Miss, you have got to let me earn at least a hundred dollars, right? I would have sold it for five thousand dollars if not for the lack of customers recently. This is a great bargain for you!” He could not believe Jiang Yao’s offer of a meager two hundred dollars.
He thought to himself, ‘Coming here, wearing nice clothes, and carrying a very well-groomed pet, she must be quite well off herself. It doesn’t matter if she is not a millionaire, surely she can afford to fork out two thousand dollars?’
He actually obtained the sword for less than a hundred dollars from a farmer. Selling it off for two thousand dollars would have made him a hefty sum.
Working within the business, he would not say that he was an antique expert. However, he was sure that this sword was no ancient artifact. He bought it because it looked authentic for an imitation. The rust stains were real too.
Jiang Yao nodded lightly. She did not intend to buy it at all, plus she had zero knowledge dealing with antiques.
It was Moe, who was in her arms, that snickered. “Just another rusty old sword! You are better off not buying it. If you want, Jiang Yao, get that vase behind him! I do not know what it is, but I am sure it is at least a thousand years old!”
Jiang Yao raised her eyebrows. She did not know Moe possessed the ability to identify an antique.
Moe was quite pleased with itself. It brushed its tail across her face. “Wait till you improve your Vision Value, you can do it too! The older an object is, the greater its aura. These auras cannot be perceived by the human eye, but mine can. Once your Vision Value goes up, you can too!”
