Chapter 1570: Contact

“I apologize for my unexpected visit, Brother He, please forgive my intrusion!” He turned to introduce Tian Yun, “This is Mr. Tian Yun, president of the Zhengxin Chamber of Commerce, whom I mentioned.”

He Lingchuan looked at Tian Yun. Their gazes met, and both were assessing each other.

On the surface, both were very polite.

Although He Lingchuan was a prominent figure in Yao Court and throughout Tianshui City, his status here was that of a major merchant, and he didn't treat his peers with arrogance.

Upon hearing this, He Lingchuan smiled and said, “Excellent, Mr. Tian, your timing is good, but you’ll have to wait a moment. I have something to do here at Apricot Terrace.”

Tian Yun, with good grace, replied, “No rush, Mr. He, please proceed.”

Fan Shuang asked curiously, “What are you doing here?”

Two months ago, the golden sea of leaves rustled in the wind, and the layers of forest were ablaze with color, making it a beautiful spot for sightseeing. But now, with leaves rustling and cold winds blowing, what could be enjoyable here?

He Lingchuan waved his hand, “Everyone, come over.”

Before they could take a step, about twenty people emerged from behind Apricot Terrace, all carrying shovels.

He Lingchuan pointed towards Tian Yun, who was slightly startled and instinctively became alert. Several beetles that had been trailing him sensed their master’s tension and flew over, flapping their wings.

But He Lingchuan’s next sentence was, “Please move aside.”

Tian Yun stepped back, and the group moved to where he had been standing, immediately thrusting their shovels into the earth.

He Lingchuan laughed, “I just heard that the owner before the last one buried a batch of apricot wine under the old apricot tree ten years ago. If we really dig it up, I’ll give each of you a jar.”

“How refined!” Fan Shuang clapped his hands. “Excellent, excellent!”

Tian Yun also touched his nose, using the gesture to wave away the small insects flying forward. But one beetle was slow to retreat, and a guard behind He Lingchuan flicked his finger, shooting it down with a whoosh.

No water could get through, not even an insect could touch him; He’s personal security was indeed tight. Tian Yun’s expression remained normal, not even glancing at the beetle on the ground.

A dozen farmers dug a dozen shovelfuls, reaching about three feet deep, when someone shouted, “We found something!”

With that digging, sure enough, over twenty dark jars were unearthed. He Lingchuan casually grabbed a jar, broke its clay seal, and a rich aroma of wine wafted out.

“It’s really here!” He burst out laughing. “Come on, take two jars of wine and put them in the guests’ carriages!”

Someone nearby immediately responded, “Yes.”

Having unearthed the aged apricot wine, He Lingchuan left the large pit on the ground and turned to walk into Apricot Terrace, saying, “Come.”

He didn’t look back. Tian Yun followed less than five feet behind, his index finger twitching involuntarily.

If he were to suddenly attack now, what were the chances of success?

But there were too many guards here; he only had one chance, and if his strike failed, he would have to flee. Moreover, Wei Yishan wasn’t here.

After careful consideration, Tian Yun abandoned the tempting idea.

Just then, He Lingchuan turned back and asked him, “Mr. Tian, where are you from?”

“Penghe.”

“Oh? Mr. Tian isn’t from Yao Country?” Penghe was a large river west of Yao Country.

“No.” Tian Yun smiled, and the mole at the corner of his eyebrow seemed to jump up. “Among the businesses in Tianshui City, at least five out of ten are not run by Yao people themselves.”

“That’s true.” He Lingchuan himself was a foreign merchant. “So, what is your main business, Mr. Tian?”

“Medicinal herbs, and exotic pets.”

“Exotic pets?” He Lingchuan heard of this category for the first time.

“Yes, they are pets kept by noble families, such as monkeys, parrots, cats, and dogs. The rarer the breed, the higher the price,” Tian Yun explained. “But this is a niche business; not many people handle it.”

“Oh, live animals?” He Lingchuan understood. “Do you have large, rare, fierce pets?”

“Yes, white tigers, white elephants, seven-star vipers. If Island Lord He is interested, I could send you one to play with?”

“Never mind, never mind. I’m so busy all day my heels are kicking my head; where would I find time to walk an animal?” He Lingchuan waved his hand. “Besides, if I were to keep a pet, it would have to be a spirit beast, at least a three-legged, three-eyed golden Zhan.”

Both men laughed. Tian Yun said, “Island Lord He is humorous.”

Entering the observation deck and going up to the second floor, He Lingchuan said to Tian Yun, “Please, let me feast my eyes.”

Tian Yun glanced at the several guards around them.

He Lingchuan did not dismiss the guards, merely saying, “It’s fine; they are all my household members.”

Tian Yun pressed the storage ring on his hand and slapped it onto the table—

With a clatter, a small pile of profound crystals poured out of the ring, forming a peak on the tabletop.

It was morning, and sunlight streamed through the window, shining directly on these profound crystals, making them explode in a dazzling array of colors, almost blinding to the eye.

Their clarity and translucence made them look like a table full of crystals.

But everyone present knew their value was more than a hundred times that of mere crystals.

Fan Shuang instinctively held his breath. The quantity of these profound crystals was even greater than what Tian Yun had displayed last night!

He Lingchuan leaned closer, “May I see?”

“Island Lord He, please do.”

So He Lingchuan put on gloves and casually sifted through the profound crystals on the table.

The lowest quality profound crystals here were deep green, as large as an unpeeled coconut. The best were chicken-blood red, truly as vibrant as an evening glow, without a trace of impurity.

But even these were only duck-egg sized.

Overall, while there were many profound crystals, their individual sizes were generally not large; some were only the size of a pinky finger. It would take a long time to examine them one by one.

But for something with such a high unit price, who wouldn’t authenticate them one by one?

He Lingchuan flipped through and examined them with extreme care. Tian Yun stood beside him with his hands behind his back, appearing patient, but secretly wishing he would examine them as slowly as possible.

The insects Tian Yun had released were now flying all over the manor.

The manor was too large, with too many corners to explore; he needed to buy more time.

The insects’ control range was limited; once he left the manor, this exploration would cease.

According to the insects’ feedback, there were many people in the manor, with guards everywhere. Everyone else was residing in the main building, convenient for serving the manor owner, as the trees had mostly lost their leaves this season, and ripe fruits had been picked and sent to the cold cellar.

The insects didn’t find the person Tian Yun wanted to see.

He Lingchuan also secretly praised them as he examined the profound crystals. Indeed, the quality of these profound crystals was genuinely excellent, and their total value would be an astonishing sum.

Actually, the Soul-Capturing Mirror in his embrace was even faster at authentication than he was: “Hmm, this light purple one with patterns, good! Pick up that orange-red one, I have a feeling it might be fake… Oh no, it’s its natural color. And that deep yellow one—”

He Lingchuan picked it up, waiting for its next words.

The mirror’s voice, however, was full of flattery: “—Can I have this one?”

In short, by the time all the profound crystals were examined, two quarters of an hour had passed.

“They are all genuine, indeed.” He Lingchuan put down the last profound crystal. “President Tian is truly impressive. Even President Feng of Deyou Trading Post, I doubt he could produce this many profound crystals!”

Profound crystals were small in size but high in unit price. Just the ones on the table would likely fetch no less than five hundred thousand taels of silver.

Tian Yun knew He Lingchuan was trying to pry information, so he smiled and said, “It was a fortunate coincidence in the past. The Longshan tribe in the northeast of the Flashing Gold Plains needed to go to war but lacked funds, so they sold off their precious collection to me. There’s a profound crystal vein within their territory, which is the root cause of their perennial conflicts, and these profound crystals—”

He pointed to the large sparkling pile on the table, “These are items they collected over many years, and their quality is very high.”

“President Tian truly caught a windfall,” He Lingchuan said, picking up the duck-egg-sized blood-red profound crystal to examine it. “Please name your price.”

“I won’t ask for too much,” Tian Yun said, holding up two fingers. “One million taels!”

Fan Shuang, standing nearby, gasped.

His family would be overjoyed, like it was New Year’s, if they made a few tens of thousands of taels flipping residential land. Look at He Xiao and this President Tian; the transactions they handled were on a completely different scale!

He Lingchuan gently put down the profound crystal in his hand. “President Tian, the quality of these profound crystals is indeed excellent, but your asking price is also quite high.”

Tian Yun smiled amiably, “Good merchandise isn’t cheap; we both know that.”

He Lingchuan walked to the edge of the platform, looking down at the entire apricot grove. “With such a large sum of money from these profound crystals, how do you intend to use it, President Tian?”

Seeing this batch of profound crystals, he was indeed tempted. He still had some spare cash that hadn’t been converted into goods, and time was short. If he could acquire all the profound crystals on the table, it would perfectly conclude his material acquisition in Yao Country.

He Lingchuan didn’t mind using his own capital to acquire profound crystals. This commodity was hard currency everywhere. Even if Imperial Dew frequently occurred later, the price of profound crystals would only fluctuate; even if it fell sharply now, it would eventually rise again.

However, Tian Yun’s asking price was a bit exorbitant.

He Lingchuan couldn’t sense his sincerity.

Tian Yun sighed deeply, “I have so many people under me to support, and my business has hit a bottleneck, requiring a lot of capital for turnover. Also, I’ve set my eyes on residential land in Shanghu District, East District, and Lanjiang, and I want to buy all of them.”

Fan Shuang interjected, reminding him, “There’s a limit on land sales in the New City; each person can only buy up to three plots.”

Tian Yun shook his head. “If I buy from others, I’m not subject to that restriction. For example, I bought from Lord Fan’s family.”

Fan Shuang immediately looked embarrassed.

He Lingchuan laughed, “Since President Tian is sincere about selling, let’s negotiate properly. I’ll offer three hundred thousand taels.”

Fan Shuang heard this and thought, “Wow, he’s cutting the price by seventy percent right off the bat.”

Tian Yun’s expression changed. “Island Lord He, that price doesn’t show much sincerity.”

He Lingchuan suddenly changed the subject and asked, “When did President Tian arrive in Tianshui City?”

Tian Yun hadn’t expected him to change topics so abruptly and paused for a moment before replying, “Oh, I’ve only been here less than five days this time.”

“How long had it been since your last visit?”

“About half a year, I’d say.”

“No wonder then,” He Lingchuan chuckled. “Actually, the current market price of profound crystals in Tianshui City no longer supports President Tian’s expectations.”

Recently, profound crystals have generally fallen in price, now only eighty-five percent of their original value.

Tian Yun shook his head. “With all due respect, for rare treasures like profound crystals, the greater the quantity, the higher the price—it’s what’s called ‘luxury by volume’. Island Lord He, you won’t be able to purchase this many high-quality profound crystals in one go anywhere else in Tianshui City, no, anywhere else in the Flashing Gold Plains.”

The two sides haggled back and forth for over a quarter of an hour, negotiating the price down from one million to around seven hundred thousand.