Chapter 133: Bargaining King

Su Yuqing quickly pretended not to have noticed anything and went back to admiring the night view.

It wasn’t like Chen Mo was some old lecher. He’d just happened to catch a glimpse of the scene, and it made his blood rush a little. Too embarrassed to stare, he quickly averted his gaze and looked out into the night.

"Whew, the mountain air at night really is nice," Chen Mo said, taking a few deep breaths. He felt his mind and body relax considerably.

Su Yuqing followed his lead, but when she inhaled deeply, the jiggle of her chest became even more pronounced.

The sight was another powerful blow to his composure.

Indeed, taking deep breaths on the mountain made Su Yuqing feel as if all her pent-up frustrations were melting away.

"Feeling rested? The view from the summit is even better," Chen Mo said with a gentle smile, giving Su Yuqing’s hand a little swing.

Su Yuqing smiled and nodded, tightening her grip on Chen Mo’s hand as they continued their advance toward the summit.

As they rounded the final bend in the mountain path, the Prayer Tree suddenly burst into view.

The Prayer Tree at the summit was more magnificent than they had imagined. Its gnarled branches were draped in layer upon layer of red silk ribbons. In the night breeze, the wooden tablets gently knocked against one another, their crisp clinking creating a sound that was remarkably calming.

As they drew closer, they could see countless fine dust motes floating in the silvery moonlight filtering through the canopy.

Normally, the sight of so much dust would probably make one want to step away.

But illuminated by the moonlight and blessed by the presence of the Prayer Tree, the dust motes didn’t seem dirty at all. Instead, they lent the entire scene an aura of sacred radiance.

Standing beneath the tree and gazing at the countless wooden tablets covered in prayers, their simply held hands quietly shifted, their fingers interlocking in the shadows of the red ribbons.

They saw prayers for health, for friendship, for family, and for love.

Suddenly, Chen Mo felt a tug on his hand. He turned to see Su Yuqing looking at him with longing eyes. "Should we write a prayer, too?"

"Of course," Chen Mo said with a gentle smile, leading Su Yuqing to a small stall run by a middle-aged woman.

"Looking for a Prayer Tablet? They’re very potent for blessing a relationship. You two are a handsome couple, how about making a wish?" the clerk asked with a cheerful smile.

"How much are they?" Chen Mo asked casually.

"One thousand yuan for the permanent one. See, this is the Golden Wood Token. Or one hundred yuan to hang for a year, and for that you get this Silver Wood Token," the clerk continued her pitch. "If you’re wishing for love, I really think the Golden Wood Token is the better choice. After all, everyone wants their love to last forever."

"That’s so expensive. Let’s just forget it." Su Yuqing was stunned when she heard the prices.

Forget the permanent one; she couldn’t even bring herself to pay for the one-year option.

She wasn’t just being polite when she told Chen Mo to forget it; she actually grabbed his hand and started to leave.

"Sorry," Chen Mo said with an apologetic smile. "I do what she says." He turned to leave as well.

The clerk’s tone changed instantly. "Wait a minute, dear. We can talk about it, no need to rush off."

Hearing this, Su Yuqing finally stopped.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked, curious.

"You name your price," the clerk shot back without missing a beat.

"Ten yuan each." Su Yuqing was surprisingly adept in these situations. She went straight for the jugular with her counteroffer, not even blushing.

Someone who wasn’t used to haggling would probably feel embarrassed even asking for a tenth of the price, worrying they’d asked for too much.

"Now listen here, young lady," the clerk said, exasperated. "Wishes are all about sincerity. If you’re sincere, your wish will come true. But you hear a high price and just walk away. With a heart that insincere, your wish won’t be granted anyway. Besides, ten yuan doesn’t even cover my costs!"

"You said it yourself—sincerity is what matters," Su Yuqing retorted, clearly not buying it. "Sincerity isn’t measured by how much money you spend. If it were, all the mega-rich would be immortal by now. Twenty yuan. That’s my final offer. Take it or we leave."

Watching Su Yuqing’s masterful haggling, Chen Mo simply stood by with a smile, not saying a single word.

"Alright, alright, alright. You’re really something else, young lady. It’s one thing to be pretty, but to be such a talented haggler on top of that... For the sake of such a good-looking couple, I’ll sell them to you at a loss," the clerk said, her face a mask of feigned pain.

In truth, Chen Mo knew exactly what these things cost. The materials were definitely no more than one yuan each.

Forget twenty yuan; even selling one for ten would be a profit.

But the clerk would definitely rather lose the sale than sell for ten.

If word got out, it would hurt future business.

Twenty yuan, however, was a price they could accept.

Several groups had come before, heard the price, and were ready to bolt. But once it dropped below fifty, people were much more willing to buy.

Sometimes, if she dropped the price to twenty for a group of five, she’d still make a hundred yuan. The alternative was all five of them leaving, and she’d make nothing at all.

Twenty yuan was their internally-set rock-bottom price. They would absolutely never sell for less.

The reason Su Yuqing was able to bargain down to this psychological threshold of twenty yuan was that she had read the clerk’s intentions.

When they started to leave, the clerk had stopped her. This was a clear sign that the price was negotiable.

And the cost of the wooden tablets was, in reality, very low.

Since there was room to negotiate, it meant they were willing to take whatever profit they could get.

That’s why Su Yuqing opened with ten yuan—to test if they were willing to make a profit at that price point.

After being pushed that low, however, the clerk’s displeased words and her "I don’t want your business" attitude became apparent.

After all, in a place for making wishes, bringing up the threat of an "ineffective wish" was basically the same as saying she didn’t want their business.

So, Su Yuqing knew she had pushed too far and immediately doubled her offer.

It was another attempt to find the clerk’s bottom line.

And this time, she hit it right on the nose.

The clerk could have dragged out the haggling with Su Yuqing a bit longer.

But having worked this post for so long, she had become an excellent judge of character. One look told her that Su Yuqing was a haggling master, so she couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time.

Her keen eye was precisely why she was so good at her job.

For example, she didn’t try to sell the one-thousand-yuan tokens to just anyone, as that could easily make people think the prices were too high in general.

Usually, she would only quote the price for the one-hundred-yuan token.

Only when she spotted someone who looked wealthy would she bring up the one-thousand-yuan token.

If a customer asked why she hadn’t mentioned it to others, she had a ready excuse: she only offered it to people she could see were blessed with immense luck. After all, it was for a permanent hanging—not something just anyone could do.

This line of reasoning both flattered the customer’s ego and sounded plausible enough.

And so, she had actually managed to sell quite a few of these thousand-yuan, gold-painted tokens.