Chapter 87 - 85: Check, Passed

Chapter 87: Chapter 85: Check, Passed

"What’s a crafty merchant?"

"A crafty merchant is someone who uses sweet talk to deceive customers, passing off fakes as real and shoddy goods as high-quality."

"They often look like good people, but their mouths are full of lies. They exploit a customer’s ignorance to make a profit without any scruples."

"But did Anna lie?"

"No, she told the truth. If the customer misunderstood her, that’s the customer’s problem."

"Yes, on some level, she did mislead the customer."

"But that’s precisely the difference between an excellent salesperson and a crafty merchant..."

Five minutes later, under the stunned gazes of the others, Lu Wei delivered a speech titled "What is a Crafty Merchant?"

His logic was clear and his reasoning meticulous, making it difficult not to be convinced.

"In short, the Golden Sword Hu Grocery Store has nothing to do with crafty merchants."

With this final summary, he turned to Anna and announced with a serious expression:

"Anna, starting today, you will receive a daily salary of ten—ahem, five Copper Coins. I hope you’ll continue the great work."

"The rest of you need to work harder, too. Don’t fall behind."

"..."

’Huh? The rest of us?’

’Who’s he talking about?’

Furen and Bai Ya exchanged glances and lowered their heads in shame, both assuming Lu Wei was referring to them.

After all, they had just questioned Anna’s "sales techniques," which showed they hadn’t yet grasped the true essence of "business."

Zovir, too, looked ashamed. He silently clenched his fists, resolving to learn from Anna so he could one day become an "excellent salesperson" himself.

’Mm, excellent.’

Watching the three of them reflect on their shortcomings, Lu Wei nodded in satisfaction.

’Clearly, under my brilliant leadership, the grocery store is finally on the right track.’

...

...

Once the work was assigned, it was nearly noon.

So Lu Wei could have the mushroom soup he’d been craving, Bai Ya took Anna into the forest to gather mushrooms.

Meanwhile, by the campfire, Lu Wei pulled two gold coins and five silver coins from his money pouch and handed them to Furen, wincing slightly.

"Here, this is the money I owed you."

"Your cut from the Gray Gemstone is 8 Silver Coins. You paid for the goods this time and last, which was 7 Silver Coins. Add to that the gold coin I owe you for the Inlaid Gemstones, and the total is 2 gold and 5 silver."

"Ah, you don’t have to. I’m not short on money anyway."

Furen, who was cleaning his sword, looked up and blurted this out, the words half-sincere and half-polite.

But as soon as he said it, he regretted it.

After all, based on past experience, Lu Wei was never polite with him when it came to money.

So this time would probably end the same way.

"Ahem, don’t you need to hire artisans and all that? You should use this money first."

’Since there’s no getting the money back,’ Furen thought. An idea struck him, so he took the opportunity to make a small request.

"Just let me go into battle with you next time."

’Hm?’

’Since when did Furen become so calculating?’

’Could it be from spending too much time with me? He who touches pitch shall be defiled... pfft, I mean, he who walks with the wise becomes wise.’

"We’ll talk about that later. For now, just take the money."

Shaking his head, Lu Wei surprisingly didn’t take the easy way out. To Furen’s astonishment, he uncharacteristically shoved the coins into his hand.

The main reason he was being so generous was that he was relatively well-off at the moment. Paying back this 2 gold and 5 silver wouldn’t break his cash flow.

Another reason was that he’d learned about the Power of Furen’s family.

And if he wanted to do business with a powerful family that owned over a dozen cargo ships, it was essential to build an image of being "honest and trustworthy."

’Well... maybe not completely honest.’

’In fact, being too honest might give Furen’s father—my future honorary father—a bad impression, making him think I’m not a shrewd businessman.’

’But being trustworthy is definitely necessary.’

’Besides, as the saying goes, "repay a loan and borrowing again is easy." In any case, this money is just being "temporarily stored" with Furen. If I really need it in the future, I can just borrow it back.’

’So...’

"Don’t be so polite."

With a serious look, Lu Wei cut off the polite refusal Furen was about to utter, putting on an air of "I would never take advantage of a friend."

"We may be brothers, but a debt is a debt."

"Besides, it’s not just you. I’ve also prepared the share of the gemstone money I owe Bai Ya."

"Well... alright then."

Since Lu Wei insisted, Furen could only accept the money, planning to buy a gift for Clara when he got back.

Just then, Bai Ya returned from gathering mushrooms.

Her and Anna’s small baskets were filled to the brim with several kinds of mushrooms, large and small, all of which looked delicious.

However, Lu Wei wasn’t in a hurry for mushroom soup right now. He was more anxious to confirm his theory about Imitation.

"Bai Ya, come over here for a second."

Calling over Bai Ya, who was just about to start cooking, Lu Wei pulled a Skill Book from his bag. "This is for you."

"Huh? For me?"

Bai Ya froze, quickly wiped her hands, and took it carefully, her face full of pleasant surprise. "So what is this? Is it a novel?"

"..."

’You mean you didn’t know it was a Skill Book?’

’Then what are you so surprised about?!’

Lu Wei’s expression immediately turned strange, while Furen, at his side, asked in astonishment:

"A Skill Book! Was this part of your loot from the trip?"

"Yeah, we found it in the goblin nest."

Lu Wei looked at the gawking Bai Ya. "The Skill is called Imitation. It’s a very powerful Skill."

"Furen can’t use it, and I don’t need it for now. I figured you could use some self-defense abilities, so I decided to give it to you. This can also settle the gemstone profit share I owed you."

"...No, I can’t take this."

As soon as she heard it was a Skill Book, and a "very powerful" one at that, Bai Ya snapped back to her senses and quickly refused.

"The gemstone share was only a few Silver Coins, but a Skill Book costs several gold coins at the very least! The difference in value is too great!"

"You should use it! I’m already learning Jump Slash from Furen. I’ll be able to protect myself in the future!"

"You could even sell it! You need a lot of money to hire artisans and laborers..."

Likely feeling that she didn’t deserve to learn a Skill from a Skill Book, Bai Ya shook her head fiercely, her refusal firm.

However, Lu Wei was just as resolute.

After all, he couldn’t learn this Skill Book, nor could he sell it. Other than giving it to Bai Ya to settle his debt, it was completely useless.

"I have a way to get the money for building the grocery store, you don’t need to worry about that."

Lu Wei comforted her earnestly, "As for the difference in price, you don’t need to feel burdened at all. We’re companions. Friendship can’t be measured in money."

"Well said!"

Beside them, Furen was impressed by his magnanimity and chimed in to persuade her. "Just take it, Bai Ya. You’ll have to learn Skills sooner or later anyway. Since you have the chance now, why not increase your Power earlier?"

"If companions can’t help each other, can we even be called companions?!"

"I..."

Staring blankly at Furen, then turning to look at Lu Wei, Bai Ya clutched the Skill Book as tears welled up in her eyes.

A moment later, as if she had made up her mind, she quickly wiped the tears away with the back of her hand and made a solemn promise:

"Okay, I’ll work hard to raise my Attributes and try to learn this Skill as soon as possible!"

"Ahem, do your best."

Lu Wei gave a slightly guilty cough, then said without much hope, "But you can also try it now. See if you can pass the Attribute Test."

"Huh? I probably can’t, right? My Perception is very low..."

"Not all Skills have a Perception requirement. Besides, you don’t lose anything by trying."

"Oh, okay... so what should I do?"

"Just open the cover. If you can open it, that means..."

Suddenly, Lu Wei’s voice stopped short, and his eyes flew wide open.

Because he was only halfway through his sentence when Bai Ya had already opened the book’s cover!

HOLY SHIT!!

’She passed?!’

’So I was right?!’

’But that’s not right either. If it really is a check for a maximum value, then while her [Perception] is fine, she has such a good memory that her [Intelligence] definitely isn’t low. Logically, she still shouldn’t have passed!’

Seeing that Bai Ya had actually passed the test, Lu Wei was stunned and couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Meanwhile, Bai Ya looked up, a little lost, and asked:

"What now? What do I do?"

"Now you just read the book!"

Furen, unaware of the Skill Book’s peculiarity, was just happy she had passed the test and answered immediately, "Just read it through once, and you’ll learn the Skill!"

"Oh, okay..."

Bai Ya nodded and quickly shifted her gaze to the booklet’s title page.

And then...

[This is my gift to all those in the world who have been mocked as fools for their slow reactions.]

[—The Omnipotent Imitator, the Kaleidoscope, the lead author of the Flannis Universal Skills Manual, the greatest polymath, Alan Rick]

[Skill Test requirements: Intelligence ≥ 10, Perception ≤ 1]